Paris Climate Conference 2015 - Meeting unmet expectations

As Paris prepares for the climate conference which will be held today, environmentalists and climate change activists alike are hoping for a more efficient conference, a conference that will yield real results, a conference that will meet previously unmet expectations.

The propensity of expectation that some 150 world leaders have to meet, including India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well Chinese President Xi Jinping cannot be understated as estimates put as many as hundreds of thousands of climate change activists dominating streets in major cities around the world demanding real action.

Indeed, these protesters' efforts are not without cause, scientists estimate that only a further 2 degree celsius rise in global temperatures can be afforded. Anymore would mean megacities like Manila and Shanghai and even New York submerging under water.

Truth be told, climate issues have definitely taken a backseat, amidst a global crisis where terrorism has been making headlines ever since. The host city for this year's climate conference, is coincidentally also reeling from one of its worst terrorist attacks ever recorded, where multiple bombs exploded in several locations, all happening in the same day. Nonetheless, the climate issue has been knocking on the doors of world leaders, and world leaders cannot afford to wait for another year or so before they can come to a consensus with regard to a resolution to protect mother earth.

With the Paris Climate Conference set to last till 11 December, it will be a hectic 12 days or so for world leaders, as they have to cope with mounting pressure from all over the world, as well as making compromises which would definitely be at the expense of national interests. Less developed countries are hoping to use this conference to demand compensation from more developed nations for the natural disasters their countries have faced, alleging that these catastrophes were a result of the more industrialised nations and coincidentally more developed nations being the main contributors of global warming.

Nonetheless, some 170 nations have already filed their carbon curbing pledges to underpin the climate pact, a step definitely worthy of plaudits, but a pact alone, should it actually really pull through in the first place, is insufficient, real concrete measures action on the part of world leaders need to be undertaken. And ultimately, the fate of planet earth remains in the hands of world leaders, who will have a tough time balancing national interests together with international interests.

Let's hope that this conference will truly be a conference where previously unmet expectations are met!