President of France François Hollande has visited Iceland and attended the Arctic Circle Conference 2015 in preparation for the Paris Climate Conference (COP21).
The speech, scheduled today at 18.15 in Harpa, was warmly welcomed by the attendees. Unfortunately, not all the participants could listen to the French President, as the room filled up very quickly. While many decided to leave the venue, a room was quickly set up to give the opportunity to the others to follow the President' speech on a screen.
Mr. Hollande described his visit with President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson to the Sólheimajökull glacier in Katla Global Geopark (Iceland), taken to see first-hand the effects of climate change, especially on melting ice. While he expressed his severe concerns regarding an exploitation of Arctic resources without taking into account its environment, the President said he was confident to reach an agreement for keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius during the UN Conference in Paris.
COP21 conference on climate is to be held from November 30 to December 11 in Paris, France.