From the typhoon-ravaged Philippines to the Arizona desert, thousands of people began gathering Saturday, June 6 in small groups in 79 countries for what was touted as the biggest public debate on climate change. Results of the day-long consultations will be submitted to climate change negotiators ahead of a year-end United Nations summit in Paris, where world leaders will gather to forge a new treaty aimed at curbing global warming. "I hope that decision-makers will find this initiative an important echo chamber of citizens' concerns, hopes, and aspirations for the kind of world they want for themselves and their children," said Christiana Figueres, executive director of the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change, one of the organizers of the event.

Climate debate takes global pulse before summit. (2015, June 8). Philippine Daily Inquirer, pp. A1, A21.