Paris climate change talks opening advanced to 1 December

The organisers of the climate change talks have decided to advance the negotiations by a day, as the opening day of the climate change talks in Paris would be likely devoted to speeches by world leaders.

The annual meet would be held from 2 December to 13 December, and this time, political leaders from across the world would converge in Paris on the opening day, to lend weight to the talks that would likely deliver a global agreement over tackling climate change in two weeks' time.

''…an early opening of the session will offer an opportunity to make the best possible use of the very limited time available to finalise negotiations on the draft Paris Climate Package,'' Christina Figueres, head of the United Framework Convention on Climate Change, said in a statement.

The talks will thus get under way on 1 December with as many as 139 heads of states and governments delivering speeches on the opening day. The meet is expected to see the largest congregation of world leaders ever. PM Narendra Modi is the 48th speaker in his group, while in the same group Barack Obama is the third speaker.

Meanwhile, prime minister Shinzo Abe said yesterday that Japan would extend 1.3 trillion yen ($10.60 billion) a year by 2020 to assist developing countries' efforts to fight global warming. The figure was up from the current level of an average 1 trillion yen a year. Abe would announce the increased aid during UN climate talks set to convene in Paris on Tuesday.

Japan's aid comes as part of the commitment of industrialised nations to offer $100 billion a year by 2020, from both government and private resources, to help developing countries curb their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to more floods, heat waves and rising sea levels.

"Our country attaches importance to the participation of all countries in a new international framework," Abe said.

"To push for proactive participation by developing countries (in the new framework), we will increase our aid to 1.3 trillion yen (a year) by 2020," he said in a ministerial meeting at the prime minister's office, part of which was open to the media.