Two weeks of climate change talks have opened in Lima, Peru.<br /><br />Around 190 countries have sent representatives <br />to the UN’s 20th session of the Conference of the Parties, otherwise known as COP20.<br /><br />Delegates hope to work out a new deal on cutting man-made emissions to put before a Paris summit next year despite warnings that time is fast running out.<br /><br />Peru’s Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal opened proceedings:<br />“It has never been clearer that the window of opportunity to reduce the emissions will close soon: It has never been seen with so much clarity the multiple opportunities for mutual economic and environmental benefits that accelerated adoption can present.”<br /><br />On the conference sidelines, Peruvian ethnic Indians held their own meeting to draw attention to how vulnerable their way of life is to environmental problems caused by larger polluting countries.<br /><br />Alberto Pizango who is president of the Inter-Ethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Amazon said his people were bearing the brunt of climate change:<br /><br />“The indigenous people are the first in line to pay or are paying the most expensive debt without having committed this crime, which is the climate change crisis.”<br /><br />With the UN’s panel of scientists confirming that it is 95% probable that man-made emissions are causing global warming, COP20 wants to see a cut which will limit average world temperatures to two degrees above pre-industrial times.
