U.N. opens climate summit

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- The United Nations climate summit, convening Tuesday, is anticipated to prompt a global change of course for action on the environment.

It comes after a rally Sunday by tens of thousands of people in New York, and in other cities, calling for development of a climate change deal by world leaders. The summit also comes after a U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned the world is reaching a point it can no longer limit global warming to two degrees Celsius above temperatures in the pre-industrial era.

The summit takes place in New York, struck in 2012 by Hurricane Sandy and aware of the effects of environmental devastation. Attendance by 120 government representatives makes it the largest climate conference ever convened. Of the four nations producing the largest amounts of carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas -- China, the United States, India and Russia -- only the United States will send its head of state, President Barack Obama, to the event.

It can be regarded as "a bit of a slap in the face to other world leaders who are there," said Keith Stewart, a Greenpeace Canada spokesman.

Topics of the summit, called "action areas," include agriculture, urban environments, energy, financing, forests, industry, resiliency and transportation.