 Ladies and gentlemen, as always, it is a great pleasure and privilege to be back at the World Policy Conference. And I can tell you, usually moderator comes on stage and says, welcome to a very timely session, but I can tell you this time it is really heartfelt because the session, of course, is titled Climate Change. Is there still a collective will? And I couldn't have asked for two better individuals to guide us through this very timely indeed conversation a few weeks before COP28 right here in this very country to my immediate left, of course, somebody who needs very little introduction in this part of the world and increasingly beyond, nonetheless, I will give one anyway. She is, of course, the UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mariam Alheri. And I'm equally delighted because when we talk about COP, obviously COP28 is the one we're all very excited about, but there was one COP, COP21 in particular, in Paris that set the standard very high for all the following ones, the Paris Climate Agreement, obviously being the main result of this. We have the president of the COP21 with us. He's currently the president of the French Constitutional Council and needless to say a former French Prime Minister. Please welcome Laurent Fabius. Madam Minister, let's dive right into it. First of all, thank you for making time. I know your schedule must be super busy. We're only a few weeks until COP28 gets underway in Dubai. And you will be hosting the world. You just told me backstage, more than 100 heads of state, including the Pope, have confirmed their attendance. So the eyes of the world will be on you. And you're also, aside from being the Minister of Climate Change and Environment, you'll also be leading the UAE delegation for COP. Give us a glimpse here. And we have the privilege of having you. So obviously I cannot pass up the opportunity of asking how are the preparations coming along? Thank you so much, Ali. Thank you for having me. And let me first say what a pleasure it is to share the stage with Laurent. And thank you so much for your time here today. I know you've had some great sessions. It is 27 days until COP28 starts. And you can imagine us as a country. We're extremely excited to welcome the world. And the time is so critical to have all countries convene in a place that is serious and committed on the climate journey. The UAE has a great track record when you look at where we are on the energy transition. As you know, we house three of the largest solar parks. We're just embarking on wind energy. We've got also the nuclear power plant. We've really diversified. And today, more than 70% of our GDP is non-oil-based. So we have a track record, the geography of the UAE, and also our bridge-building abilities with so many countries makes us really the ideal place to convene the world to talk about climate action. And as you know, we're off track. We all know that. The first global stock take will happen at COP28. This is a huge endeavor to let us know what are the gaps. How do we have to course correct? I think it's really important that everyone realizes this is the time we need to unite. This is the time when we need to look at solutions and upscaling the solutions really quickly. And for us, the solutions-based unification of the world to combat climate change is so critical. And that's why we're actually extremely excited. Preparations are underway. Ali, we can always look at what else needs to be done, but from our experiences in the other COPs, from looking at what we want to achieve in this COP, I think we're well underway. And of course we will talk more about your aspirations and expectations and the many sticking issues that will have to be addressed once COP gets underway. But you could not have been more blunt in the past and in present, saying the house is on fire. And Mr. President, that is of course something that unites us all, the collective will, at least on paper. The house is on fire. We do want to get it extinguished. Now you, of course, have been the president of COP 21 and you have been part of every single COP since then. Give us a glimpse. How has the trajectory changed throughout the years? What have been the biggest, most significant and most notable differences from COP to COP? Thank you and good morning to everybody. What are the differences between Paris in 2015 and Emirates today? There are some differences. In Paris, the objective was to have a conjunction between three different planets. And today it's true, but the planets have evolved in a different way. What do I mean? The first planet is a scientific planet. It was very important in Paris that science, IPCC and all that stuff be more understood by the general public. It was done and since Paris, I think science and technology have improved very much. Therefore, I have no doubt about this scientific planet. The second planet is much more difficult. It's civil society. As far as general public is concerned, there is a greater awareness of the climate problem. As far as the cities are concerned, the NGOs, many companies, there have been improvements. Though, and we shall probably discuss that, there are some groups which are still resisting. But the main difference is about governments. In Paris in 2015, we were lucky to have an international setting which was positive. In particular, a sort of alliance between US and China and diplomacy was such that we were able to get everybody together. Today, obviously it's a different story and it will be one of the main difficulties. Meanwhile, another difference, which is very important, is that the situation of climate is worse than it was before. Because we know that compared to Paris, there are different commitments, but the main one was about 1.5 degrees. And honestly, we are off track. And therefore, there are similarities with Paris and there are differences. But my guess is that anyway, the Emirates Cup, the Cup 28, is a decisive one because we are in danger. And we hope that this Cup will be helpful and a success. Yeah, the situation has in many ways has worsened as you have pointed out.