France working on minimising carbon footprint during COP21

New Delhi: France is working on minimising carbon footprint that would be generated during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21), which the European nation will host later this year in Paris.

"Very large number of people will gather for the event from around the world... We are trying to ensure that the climate conference is climate-friendly. And, that it doesn't generate carbon footprint as such," French Ambassador to India Francois Richier told PTI here.

"The idea is to identify each and every feature that is green and adapting to it, so that it's climate-friendly...Like not printing paper all the time, or just by changing to habits, which are more environment-friendly... But, that doesn't mean one should not have stringent, strategic decision on energy," he said.

The French Ambassador said, "As the chair, we have to be impartial and build on the lessons learnt from Copenhagen."

The Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has initiated a project entitled 'World-Wide Views on Climate Change and Energy' in the run up to the conference in December.

Over 10,000 citizens from around the world yesterday discussed and deliberated upon climate change and energy issues.

Richier inaugurated the India chapter of the event, where "diverse group" of select 100 citizens offered inputs ahead of the final decision-making process.

"For dealing with climate change issues, diplomats and civic society will gather... The idea is to create climate-friendly atmosphere," he added.

According to him, besides "sessions of formal negotiations", there will be some informal sessions including at high-level, say ministerial level, so that they can arbitrate things.

"And our goal is to reach preliminary agreement on certain number of factors ahead of the conference, so we are working on that," Richier said.

"Technology and funding" would be the two main issues, the Ambassador said.

"As per the conference, the final agreements would be legally binding and articulated with national commitments. Each country would have its national contribution plan, but we will also have to see how each country can do under its given circumstances," he said.

We are trying to reduce the number of brackets in the text that was agreed upon in Lima (conference), he added.