7 Dec, 2009 COPENHAGEN, Europe

An anticipated global meeting of 200 nations seeking common the issue of climate change opened on Monday with the impassioned airing of what leaders here call as political and moral imperatives. The target is to stay below the two-degrees-Celsius

From now till Dec. 18, the delegates will be trying to hammer out the most vexing details that are involved in pursuit of a global climate deal. So the broad cuts will be made in greenhouse gas emissions mainly from the big polluters such as the United States and China and a commitment from the wealthy nations that they would deliver what could be as hundreds of billions of dollars so as to finance the poor countries, who argue that they are highly ill-equipped to deal with a problem.

Many countries announced the new emissions goals in days leading up to meeting here, including China, Brazil, the United States, India and South Africa.

The opening plenary began with a video appeal from the children across the world to save them from apocalyptic future of deserts and rising seas.

The mood among the negotiators and other participants both outside and inside the plenary was the cautious optimism. Jonathan Pershing, State Department’s special envoy for climate who represented the United States at opening plenary said that he saw strong evidence that this conference would surely prove a critical juncture in the efforts of getting traction on curbing emissions and helping the poor countries limit vulnerability to climate hazards.