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Paris climate change talks begin
00:54 - Source: CNN
Climate Crisis 16 videos
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Paris climate change talks begin
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A bird flys above the beach at Lake Mead in Boulder City, Nevada on Sept. 11, 2022.
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Story highlights

World must restore "balance between humanity and nature," Indian leader says

French President Francois Hollande: "Never have the stakes been so high"

Talks open amid intense security two weeks after Paris terror attacks

CNN  — 

World leaders opened pivotal climate talks Monday in Paris saying the stakes are too high to end the conference without achieving a binding agreement to help slow the pace of global climate change.

“A political moment like this may not come again,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told leaders gathered for the conference. “We have never faced such a test. But neither have we encountered such great opportunity.”

The talks began with a moment of silence for victims of the November 13