Environmentalists expect big climate change decisions from Paris conference

Environmentalists around the world are waiting for an important event: the 21st Conference on Climate Change (COP21) due in Paris in December 2015, Yaroslav Bekish, a representative of the organizing committee of the Forum of Public Environmental Organizations, said at the forum, BelTA has learned.

"We are talking about an ambitious and tough agreement to combat the climate change which will be binding for all states," he said.

Belarus' Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment supported the initiative on a new climate agreement which is expected to be signed at the Paris conference in December this year. "Our delegation is actively involved in the work on the text of the new global climate agreement," the ministry said.

During the forum, First Counselor of the First Counselor at the French Embassy in Belarus Elsa Pignol pointed out: "Eighteen years since the Kyoto Protocol was concluded, we strive to develop a new universal agreement that will allow reducing the climate warming by 2 degrees and limiting greenhouse gas emissions starting from 2020," she said.

Elsa Pignol said that the major objective of this conference will be achieving the progressive reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. "In such historical moments the contribution to the public is very important,” she believes. The Embassy of France in Belarus appreciates the contribution of the Belarusian public environmental organizations in the struggle for environmental protection.

The Forum of Public Environmental Organizations 2015 is running in Minsk on 24-25 July. The event is held every two years.