UN climate talks began in Marrakesh on Monday, for the first such conference since a sweeping accord to keep global temperatures rises below 2 degrees Celsius was adopted in Paris last year. The conference is aimed at hammering out the details of the goals set out in Paris, where countries made individual pledges to bring down their greenhouse gas emissions. These details include making sure countries are following through on their promises to reduce emissions, working out specific timeframes, and ensuring 100 billion dollars per year are available to help countries cope with climate change. "This is a departure point. I think - and this is what makes me confident - that we are building a process and a negotiation that will continue to bring about the decisions to implement the Paris agreement," Moroccan Environment Minister Hakima El Haite told dpa on the eve of the conference. The talks, called the COP22 as shorthand for the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, are expected to draw more than 30,000 participants including 43 heads of state and 32 heads of government or prime ministers.
