File photo of French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. (Reuters)
France is counting on Brazil to convince world leaders to strike a deal to limit annual temperature rise at an upcoming Paris summit, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Sunday.
With one week to go to a crucial global warming summit, 170 countries have submitted pledges for greenhouse gas (GHG) curbs meant to underpin a 195-nation climate rescue pact.
Those countries account for about 93 percent of the world population and are responsible for roughly the same proportion of emissions blamed for driving dangerous levels of climate change.
The voluntary pledges, dubbed Intended Nationally Determined Contributions or INDCs, are the chosen means for staying under the UN-agreed global warming ceiling of two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels.
Fabius met Sunday in Brasilia with President Dilma Rousseff, his counterpart Mauro Vieira and Brazil's Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira on a three-day world tour.
Earlier, he stopped in India, the fourth largest emitter of GHGs, and in G77 leader South Africa. The emerging nations are crucial to getting a deal done.
"Brazil has made very ambitious and exemplary commitments, and that lends to its credibility as a historic partner in the negotiations on climate (change) since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro," Fabius said.
"I am really counting on Brazil's drive to succeed in this area -- and on its strong reputation (on climate change) -- to help convince others. That was really the main reason for my visit."
Brazil has pledged to reduce GHG emissions by 37 percent by 2025, and 43 percent by 2030, compared to its 2005 levels.
Other large developing countries in many cases so far have only pledged to keep GHG emissions from increasing.
Brazil also has committed to eliminating illegal logging in the Amazon basin region -- one of the world's critical huge green areas.
Some non governmental groups say the pledge is not realistic due to lax rules and enforcement.
With the summit fast approaching from November 30-December 11, Fabius said "it must be a success."
"There is no Plan B, because there is no Planet B," Fabius stressed.
With time was running out to put a dent in damage done, "Paris must be a turning point," he stressed.