Rich countries pressured to pay poor nations for climate havoc at COP21

It’s only day two of the Paris climate talks and already there’s a world of difference between the lofty and inspiring words by state leaders made Monday, and what country negotiators are actually saying to vulnerable nations behind the scenes about what will done to protect them from future climate chaos.

“The leaders made very, very good laudable statements," said Bangladeshi climate negotiations expert Saleemul Huq. "I don't see their negotiators following very good instructions from their leaders."

Officially, the Paris climate target is to constrain two degrees of dangerous planetary warming — but that's not enough, says Huq, with the International Centre for Climate Change and Development, based in Dhaka. His densely populated country in south Asia is expected to get overwhelmed with sea level rise.

“Two degrees will protect most people, it will not protect all. If we want to protect all, then the temperature target needs to be 1.5C,” said Huq. “The difference… is roughly 100 million people falling through that crack, and most of them will be developing countries.”

He said a more ambitious 1.5 Celsius target for capping planetary warming is agreed to by 106 countries, the majority of the 195 UNFCC nations.

“So if this was a democracy, they would win. But it just so happens they are not particularly powerful countries. And the ones that are rich and powerful… are not on their side."