President Barack Obama is on his way to Paris for the UN climate change conference in what could be the crowning jewel of his legacy, with concern growing on the state of the planet as a result of climate change.
The President will, however, face challenges both at home and abroad, with questions remaining as to who will pay for changes and whether or not terrorism is of higher concern and in need of more focus. In fact, as part of Paris' security for the event, climate change activists have been placed under house arrest. Public demonstrations have also been banned as part of the state of emergency that Paris is in, following the Nov.13 terrorist attacks that killed 130 people in the city.
"These 24 people have been placed under house arrest because they have been violent during demonstrations in the past and because they have said they would not respect the state of emergency," said French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve after groups accused the move as an abuse of power.
Around 160 heads of state will be present at the summit, which will last for 12 days and will essentially see a lock-down of Paris. The goal of the summit is to secure enough cuts of emissions to limit the rise of temperatures to about another 2 degrees from the level it's right now.
In many ways, the summit is already a success, with over 160 countries having submitted climate action plans, and eight of the largest of those countries have pledged to double their renewable energy use by 2030.
President Obama, however, is having a hard time convincing Congress to supply the funds for such action, with Congress having been very reluctant to approve a $3 billion international Green Climate Fund.
Bill Gates and around 20 other wealthy business people will also be present, and will unveil a multibillion-dollar outline for researching technology that can help fight climate change.
