Why this year's climate talks matter more than ever

THE 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), taking place from Nov 30 to Dec 11 in Paris this year, will be significant if successful.

For the first time in over 20 years of UNFCCC negotiations, a COP has a concrete aim of achieving a more comprehensive legally binding and universal agreement on climate, to keep global warming below two degrees Celsius. This is a figure most climate scientists cite as a minimum necessary to reduce the potential of catastrophic climate change.

The potential new deal at this year's COP 21 will go far beyond the last agreement - the Kyoto Protocol adopted in Japan in 1997 - in terms of scope. It seeks to get more countries on board with commitments to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions based on individual national circumstances, to engage private sector participation, and to go beyond mitigation to adaptation by promoting behavioural change.