Paris Climate Conference to Proceed with Heightened Security After Attacks

A landmark conference on climate change set to begin later this month in Paris will proceed with heightened security measures following an attack in the French capital that killed at least 129 people, officials said Saturday.

More than 100 heads of state and 40,000 attendees are expected to travel to Paris for the conference, which begins Nov. 30 and is scheduled to last two weeks. President Obama was among the leaders who confirmed that his trip to Paris would proceed as planned despite the attacks.

Asked whether the attacks threatened the conference, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius repeated the word “no” five times and described the conference as “absolutely essential” in a statement provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

French officials, who have been tasked with running the United Nations conference, had previously said they would establish check points at 285 ports of entry in the country that will remain in place until the end of the conference in December, according to an RFI report. The operation will require 30,000 police officers.

The gathering itself will take place at the Le Bourget conference site outside of the center Paris, but events have been scheduled throughout the city.

Planners hope the conference, formally known as the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21), will yield the strongest international agreement to stem global warming.