Paris climate talks could fail, warns Francois Hollande

Nations must make a greater effort to reach agreement or else millions face the risk of becoming climate refugees, says French president

The president of France, Francois Hollande, has warned that the global climate change talks scheduled for Paris this December will fail unless nations make a much greater effort to reach agreement - and that the result could be millions of new refugees fleeing climate disaster.

"There is a risk of failure," he told journalists, after a meeting on the issue of providing financial assistance to poor countries affected by climate change. "If we don't conclude [with a successful agreement], and there are no substantial measures to ensure the transition [to a climate-affected world], it won't be hundreds of thousands of refugees in the next 20 years, it will be millions."