Negotiation to implement Paris climate pact opens

Diplomats from 196 nations will flesh out the planet-saving plan inked in the French capital last December. “We have made possible what everyone said was impossible,” said French environment minister Segolene Royal at the opening ceremony, in which she handed over stewardship of the climate forum to Moroccan foreign minister Salaheddine Mezouar. Amid growing alarm at the gathering pace of climate change and its impacts - rising sea, deadly storms, drought and wildfires - the world’s nations have moved quickly over the last year to tackle the still-growing problem. But as 15,000 negotiators, CEOs and activists settle in for the 12-day talks, all eyes are on the United States, where voting Tuesday could thrust Trump into the White House. In Marrakesh, front-line diplomats must roll up their sleeves and work through scores of procedural issues that will make the difference between success and failure. They have informally set 2018 as the deadline for laying that groundwork, Royal told journalists the day before the talks opened.