UNFCCC Week 1: 12/1/15

This week has been the start of the UNFCCC in Paris. So far the leaders have given their opening speeches and a few documents have been introduced. I would like to talk about president Obama's opening speech. President Obama opened up his speech by addressing France and the recent terrorist attacks. He gave them condolences and promised the United State's report. I think that this part of the president's speech is interesting in light of everything that has been occurring over the last few weeks. I think it is very cool how president Obama is able tie the fight against terrorism into the the fight against climate change. As he continues on through his speech I think he does a good job at providing examples from the US of how he has seen climate change first hand as well as how it is affecting his nation. He recognizes that the US (as well as other countries) have much work to do in order to meet reasonable climate goals. He says, "I’ve come here personally, as the leader of the world’s largest economy and the second largest emitter, to say that the United States of America not only recognizes our role in creating this problem, we embrace our responsibility to do something about it." He next explains what a successful agreement would look like. He explains, "So our task here in Paris is to turn these achievements into an enduring framework for human progress -- not a stopgap solution, but a long-term strategy that gives the world confidence in a low-carbon future." I believe that if president Obama and other world leaders are able to do this they will set precedent over the next few weeks that is needed to successfully combat global warming.