DHAKA: High-level climate talks have begun in Paris with the goal of signing a long-term deal to reduce global carbon emissions.

More than 150 world leaders have converged to launch the two-week talks.

Peruvian Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar Vidal declared this year’s meeting open.

Strong action on carbon emissions is essential for multiple reasons, said Vidal, who hosted last year’s UN climate conference in Lima.

Vidal said a deal would show the world that countries can work together to fight global warming as well as terrorism.

Christiana Figueres, the head of the UN’s climate change negotiations, addressed delegates at the start of the summit.

‘Never before has a responsibility so great been in the hands of so few,’ she said.

‘The world is looking to you. The world is counting on you.’

And the incoming president of the meeting, French foreign secretary Laurent Fabius, said one of his guiding principles over the next 11 days was transparency.

BDST: 1741 HRS, NOV 30, 2015
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