World Leaders Gather in Paris to Negotiate Climate Change Deal

Leaders from 150 nations gathered in Paris on Monday to come to a global agreement on a plan to take action against global warming.

The United Nations Conference on Climate Change is intended to produce an agreement in the next two weeks from 150 world leaders to cut greenhouse gas emissions and delay the rise in global temperature to no more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

As negotiators flesh out the details of an agreement, discordances have arisen.

Large industrial countries-- including China, India, and the U.S.-- have always remained hesitant about a global climate change agreement out of fear of jeopardizing their economies.

Developing nations want highly industrialized countries to pledge $100 billion a year from 2020 onward to help finance their switch to greener energy, arguing that these nations have emitted the most carbon dioxide and has produced the most environmental damage.

Coming up with a solution to finance cleaner energy sources for developing countries besides fossil fuels have slowed negotiations.

Many countries taking part in the conference have presented pledges with details of how they would limit pollution.

A group of countries, including Mexico, Chile, Germany, Ethiopia, and France, proposed a global price on carbon to discourage burning of carbon fuels like coal.

India and France submitted a plan to contribute $1 trillion towards funding solar power for developing countries.

An initiative spearheaded by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates proposes to fund a multi-billion dollar program to boost research and development for green energy.

The U.S. made an official announcement of its decision to contribute 51.2 million to a Least Developed Countries Fund to help poor countries adapt to climate change.

However, current pledges are not enough to curb global warming to meet its 2-degree goal, according to experts.

Any agreement will require the consent of over 150 countries and negotiations will continue into next week as delegates aim to reach an agreement.