French, Bolivian presidents meet on climate change

Bolivian President Evo Morales was in Paris on an official visit on Monday to meet French President Francois Hollande where the two spoke about bilateral relations and the upcoming summit on climate change hosted in France in December.

“President Morales and I completely agree that we must link the fight against poverty with the fight against global warming because if temperatures continue to increase even more it is the poorest who will be hit and if we don’t fight poverty we won’t be able to offer energy security and the indispensable level of technology which will avoid the use of fossil fuel energy,” Hollande said at a news conference.

“So the conference on climate change is a major political issue, one that goes even beyond climate change, one that will allow us to fight against inequalities around the globe and defend a new development model, and it is this development model which both France and Bolivia want to push forward, more fair, more human but also more efficient on a technological level.”

Without the right policies to keep the poor safe from extreme weather and rising seas, climate change could drive over 100 million more people into poverty by 2030, the World Bank said in a report on Sunday.

The bank said ending poverty — one of 17 new U.N. goals adopted in September — would be impossible if global warming and its effects on the poor were not accounted for in development efforts.

Bolivian President Evo Morales said his country would bring its expertise to help fight climate change at the Paris summit, which he called an “enormous responsibility” for France.

“A moment ago we exchanged the conclusions so that it can serve as contribution to the defence of life, to the defence of humanity. We will participate as always in this event and contribute our knowledge thanks to our small experience for the good of everyone who lives on this planet,” Morales said.

The two presidents also talked about bilateral cooperation in matters of tourism and education.