Paris hopes to avoid repeat of last failed attempt in 2009 when leaders came at the end and left empty-handed
By Alister Doyle
OSLO, June 1 (Reuters) - France suggested on Monday that world leaders should attend only the start of a summit on climate change in Paris in six months, hoping to avoid a repeat of the last failed attempt in 2009 when they came at the end and left empty-handed.
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius also said France hoped to agree some elements of a U.N. climate deal by October, weeks before the Nov. 30-Dec. 11 summit, which aims to agree a global pact to cut rising greenhouse gas emissions.
"The example of Copenhagen is not so good," Fabius told a news conference, referring to the last climate summit in Denmark in 2009 that collapsed even after U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders turned up for the final days.
"The idea would be to invite (leaders) to give some political impetus right at the beginning," he said, leaving negotiations on the deal to environment or foreign ministers.
He said the plans were still fluid.
In 2009, negotiators left the hard work to presidents and prime ministers, who usually only attend the end of summits to formally sign off on a deal, who were simply unprepared and unable to work out a deal.
Senior government officials are meeting in Bonn from June 1-11 to work on the accord and cut a draft 89-page text that outlines sharply different options for fighting climate change.
Some nations, for instance, want to set a goal of slashing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 or 2100 while others, including major emerging economies such as China and India, favour setting a vaguer long term goal.
Fabius said that he hoped for a "pre-agreement" in October, leaving the most contentious issues for Paris. "I don't want to have to pull a text out of my hat" at the last moment in Paris, he told delegates.
But many delegates also said work was going too slowly. "It is high time for a step change in the pace of the overall process," said Elina Bardram, head of the European Commission delegation.
Separately, Christiana Figueres, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, welcomed plans by six oil and gas companies to call for carbon pricing.
"These oil and gas companies have an enormous role to play in solving climate change," she said.
Criticised for not doing enough to tackle climate change, the chief executives of BG Group, BP, Eni , Royal Dutch Shell, Statoil and France's Total said carbon pricing "would reduce uncertainty and encourage the most cost-effective ways of reducing carbon emissions widely." (Reporting By Alister Doyle)
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