Paris climate talks: vulnerable countries demand 1.5C warming limit

Countries most at risk from climate change warn of looming 'disaster' as they break from major blocs to call for more ambitious temperature target

Countries most vulnerable to climate change have seized the political initiative at the start of the UN climate talks in Paris by challenging the US, China and Europe to raise their ambitions and set a long-term temperature goal of 1.5C rather than the 2C target.

As more than 140 world leaders made short opening statements on Sunday, 44 countries that are members of the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis), along with other vulnerable countries, declared that the 2C goal being backed by all major blocs would seal the fate of hundreds of millions of people in countries like Bangladesh, the Philippines, Sudan and Vietnam.