International climate meet kicks off in Poland a day after US snubs G20 on climate

Warsaw, Dec 3: A day after the G20 group failed to make the US a party to its stand on climate change in Buenos Aires, a major international climate conference started in Katowice, Poland, on Sunday (December 2) where leaders from around the world will meet over the next two weeks to discuss ways to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and support people and communities that are affected by the alarming phenomenon.

According to a report in National Public Radio, US, the current conference is the most important meeting since the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015 of which the US was also a party till last year when President Donald Trump decided to withdraw from it. The signatories of the Paris deal had promised to set definite emissions-reduction goals.

"This meeting in Poland is going to be focused heavily on implementation rules for the Paris Agreement," Alden Meyer, the director of strategy and policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists, was quoted as saying by NPR.

Trump has been a non-believer in climate change and besides pulling his country out of the multi-party deal, also systematically tried to roll back regulations to curb the US's emissions.

Apart from the US, Brazil, too, has showed signs of concern as its new far-right president-elect Jair Bolsonaro's views on Paris agreement are alarming and the country has indicated at backing off from promises on climate change it made in 2015. China and European nations have, however, remained committed to meeting their emission targets.

Even though the world has a few major countries still agreeing to disagree on climate change, scientists have warned against global warming and its catastrophic effects that are already being witnessed.