Global Climate Conference Begins İn Germany

The UN's top climate official called for urgent action on climate and warned against the catastrophic consequences of global warming.



Speaking at the opening session of the 23rd Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, on Monday, UN's climate chief Patricia Espinosa said millions of people were at risk due to extreme weather events.



"This is the 23rd COP conference. But never before have we met with a greater sense of urgency," she said.



"2017 will likely be one of the three hottest years on record. And long term indicators of climate change such as carbon dioxide concentrations, sea-level rise, ocean acidification, among other disturbing phenomena, will continue unless we act," she stressed.



Some 195 states, 80 international organizations, and more than a thousand NGOs are participating in the 23rd Climate Change Conference, which will continue until Nov. 17.



Germany's environment minister Barbara Hendricks, who is co-hosting the conference with the tiny island nation of Fiji, called for the effective implementation of the Paris climate accord of 2015.



"The Paris agreement is irreversible," she stressed, in defense of the landmark climate accord, which was denounced by U.S. President Donald Trump.



"We now have to do everything in our power to implement it, and we do not have much time left," she added.



Hendricks also criticized those who questioned the science behind climate change.



"Climate change has been scientifically proven. The impacts are already been clearly felt today. Climate change poses a threat to the natural foundations of our lives, and it is an existential threat to some countries of the world," she said.



Hendricks underlined that every dollar countries invest in climate action will pay off in cleaner air, better health and new economic and social opportunities in future.



The Paris Climate Conference two years ago reached the first legally binding universal agreement on climate change after years long negotiations.



However, Trump decided to pull the U.S. from the historic agreement, claiming that the the deal "punished" the U.S. and would cost millions of jobs. -