French FM urges swift moves to reach accord on climate change

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Monday urged international community to accelerate moves in order to find an accord to curb greenhouse emissions which triggered floods, heat waves and rising sea levels.

In two-day preparatory talks on ways to fight climate change, Fabius pledged "to accelerate steps towards an agreement."

"We ministers, we need now to seek compromises on key policy issues, and it is on this basis that our negotiators will be able to advance," the French diplomat said.

"If we want the agreement to be presented and adopted in time, all that has to be prepared. The idea that we could find a last-minute and ambitious compromise is an illusion. We have all drawn the lesson from Copenhagen," he added, referring to the failed negotiations to limit greenhouses emissions in 2009.

Participants at Paris informal ministerial consultations are "to discuss the overall balance of the agreement, its level of ambition and the degree of differentiation that should be retained in order to take into account the situation and levels of development of the different UN member states," the Quai d'Orsay said in a statement.

Around 40 delegations including about 30 ministers took part in the two-day meeting, it added.

A second gathering was scheduled for Sept. 6-7 to discuss the financing of proposed policies to limit climate change which was "the key of fair and effective agreement", during the Climate Conference in Paris (COP21) by year-end. Endit