Decks Get Cleared for Climate Change Conference
The President of the French Republic, François Hollande, and the French Minister of Foreign Affairs and future President of COP21, Laurent Fabius, invited all Heads of State and Government to the opening of the UN Climate Change Conference on 30 November.
By 28 November, 150 Heads of State and Government had accepted this invitation. This level of participation makes COP21 one of the largest diplomatic conferences ever organized, aside from the United Nations General Assembly sessions in New York. It has been described by Laurent Fabius as “a first” for France.
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The day will begin with the official opening of the Conference at 10 a.m., when Laurent Fabius will be elected as President of COP21 by the 196 Parties. Meanwhile, the Heads of State and Government will be received at the Le Bourget site by the President of the French Republic, François Hollande, and the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon.
The Leaders Event will start at 11 a.m. with speeches by François Hollande, Ban Ki-moon and Laurent Fabius. After a family photo, each of the 150 Heads of State and Government will make a short speech.
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Although the invitations were sent by France, the order of speakers will follow the United Nations rules in this regard, based on order of precedence and the order in which the responses to the invitation were received.
The speeches will be given simultaneously in the two plenary rooms of the Conference Centre, named “Seine” and “Loire”, from 12 p.m. to 1.15 p.m. A lunch will then be hosted by the President of the French Republic and the President of COP21. The speeches will resume from around 2.45 p.m. until the end of the day. Here is the schedule of the Conference.
The American President, Barack Obama, will join François Hollande for dinner at the Élysée Palace.
Photo courtesy: COP21
