The US$100 billion question: Paris climate talks risk failure without financing solution, says Hollande

French President Francois Hollande has warned that climate change talks in Paris later this year could fail especially if the issue of financing for emerging nations was not resolved.

The United Nations said on September 4 that talks were on track for the November 30-December 11 summit after a week of negotiations in Bonn made progress in clarifying options about everything from cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to raising aid to developing nations.

“Good intentions are there, but we are still far away from a legally binding agreement and financing that is up to the levels needed,” Hollande told a news conference on Monday. “There is even a risk of failure.”

Almost 200 governments agreed in 2010 that a 2 degree Celsius rise was the maximum allowable to avert the heaviest impact of climate change, including floods, droughts and rising sea levels. About 100 developing nations favour a tougher ceiling of 1.5 degrees.

The plans submitted so far to the United Nations by about 60 nations represent 70 per cent of world emissions and are deemed too weak to keep temperatures below the agreed ceiling of 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times needed to avoid the worst effects of warming.