PARIS (Sputnik) — French law enforcement officers pushed the Parisians protesting the One Planet climate summit out into the street as the participants of the unauthorized rally gathered in front of the venue to speak out against the ineffective ecology policy of President Emmanuel Macron, who has been a vocal supporter of the Paris climate accord, a Sputnik correspondent reported.
The summit dedicated to mark the second anniversary of the Paris agreement is focusing on financing for low-carbon projects that help promote climate change solutions, with President Emmanuel Macron, President of the World Bank Group Jim Yong Kim and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attending the event.
France's Macron announces first 'Make our Planet Great Again' winners https://t.co/Jl38UhanTc pic.twitter.com/xKJhhmt6Qp
— Balmore Bonilla (@Balbonilla) 12 декабря 2017 г.
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Speaking at the summit earlier in the day, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that efforts aimed at tackling climate change are extremely important and world leaders, especially those from developed countries, should mobilize billions of dollars to address the challenge.
According to Ban, tackling climate change is the most important issue of our time and world leaders should make efforts to implement "transformative action."
Speaking about the controversial decision made by US President Donald Trump on the withdrawal from the Paris climate deal that has been widely criticized by environmental activists and world leaders, Ban said, "I must reiterate my pronounced disappointment on president Trump’s decision to withdraw form the Paris climate agreement. It is politically misguided and short-sighted, economically irresponsible and scientifically wrong."
A strike of French public transport operator RATP, which coincided with the One Planet climate summit in the French capital, resulted in the severe traffic congestion in the Paris metropolitan area, with almost 350 miles of traffic jam blocking the Ile-de-France region.
A new regional record of a 552-kilometers-long traffic congestion (343 miles) was recorded at 9 a.m. local time (08:00 GMT), according to the Radio France broadcaster.
Drivers are also facing heavy traffic in Paris due to the international climate summit, taking place in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt. Traffic circulation is blocked on many routes in the capital from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., with 2,900 police officers ensuring security in the city.
The Paris climate deal, which went into force on November 16 was ratified by 170 of the 197 parties to the accord, aims at keeping the increase in average global temperature at below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. According to the agreement, developed countries must collectively provide $100 billion annually until 2020 to support developing countries in the fight against climate change.
