G20 summit: French President Francois Hollande calls on countries to address climate change

French President Francois Hollande said failure to address global warming could lead to war, and called on G20 countries to act ahead of a climate change conference in Paris next year. "We will meet again in Paris to sign a global agreement that will prevent the planet from experiencing global warming of as much as three or four degrees (Celsius), which could lead to catastrophe, if not war," Hollande said at the G20 summit in Brisbane. "One way to prevent conflicts and catastrophe is by taking decisions."

Hollande hopes countries will sign binding agreements to limit global warming to two degrees at the conference, which will run from November 30 to December 11, 2015.

At the G20 summit, other nations overrode host Australia's attempts to keep climate change off the agenda and agreed to call for strong action with the aim of adopting a binding protocol at the Paris conference.