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| On High Alert Since Paris Attacks, French Gear Up for Climate Talks | On High Alert Since Paris Attacks, French Gear Up for Climate Talks |
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| PARIS — Just two weeks after the terrorist attacks in Paris, France is gearing up for an exceptional security challenge — the global mega-conference on climate change — that will test its ability to ensure the safety of nearly 50,000 visitors and 147 heads of state who will descend on the city beginning on Sunday. | PARIS — Just two weeks after the terrorist attacks in Paris, France is gearing up for an exceptional security challenge — the global mega-conference on climate change — that will test its ability to ensure the safety of nearly 50,000 visitors and 147 heads of state who will descend on the city beginning on Sunday. |
| The coincidence of the start of the conference in the same month as the attacks has brought together in one place two issues of global importance — climate change and terrorist networks — that has made Paris a focus of intense international scrutiny at a time of deep trauma for the city. | The coincidence of the start of the conference in the same month as the attacks has brought together in one place two issues of global importance — climate change and terrorist networks — that has made Paris a focus of intense international scrutiny at a time of deep trauma for the city. |
| With just days to go before the start of the conference on Monday, and bomb alerts occurring regularly in the Métro, Parisians remain determined to carry on with daily life, if also jittery and downcast as newspapers publish photographs of the 130 mostly young victims of the Nov. 13 attacks. | With just days to go before the start of the conference on Monday, and bomb alerts occurring regularly in the Métro, Parisians remain determined to carry on with daily life, if also jittery and downcast as newspapers publish photographs of the 130 mostly young victims of the Nov. 13 attacks. |
| But since the country is virtually locked down under a state of emergency, with hundreds of soldiers and police officers spread around the capital, swallowing the extra security burden may well be all the easier, security analysts said. | But since the country is virtually locked down under a state of emergency, with hundreds of soldiers and police officers spread around the capital, swallowing the extra security burden may well be all the easier, security analysts said. |
| Seeking to reassure potential visitors, France’s interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said this week that France would deploy nearly 3,000 extra police officers to protect the conference delegates and dignitaries, who include President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China. | Seeking to reassure potential visitors, France’s interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said this week that France would deploy nearly 3,000 extra police officers to protect the conference delegates and dignitaries, who include President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China. |
| “In the context of the highly elevated threat against our country, the success of COP 21” — as the climate change conference is known — “will depend on maximum security,” Mr. Cazeneuve told reporters at his offices on Wednesday. | “In the context of the highly elevated threat against our country, the success of COP 21” — as the climate change conference is known — “will depend on maximum security,” Mr. Cazeneuve told reporters at his offices on Wednesday. |
| “I am emphasizing this to you: Everything is being put in place to maximize security at the conference itself, and its surroundings,” he added. | “I am emphasizing this to you: Everything is being put in place to maximize security at the conference itself, and its surroundings,” he added. |
| The most substantive measure he announced — the additional police — was merely a slight increase of the already exceptional security atmosphere that has been in place under an emergency decree, which has allowed the police to conduct more than a thousand raids around the country in pursuit of domestic threats. | The most substantive measure he announced — the additional police — was merely a slight increase of the already exceptional security atmosphere that has been in place under an emergency decree, which has allowed the police to conduct more than a thousand raids around the country in pursuit of domestic threats. |
| About 120,000 police officers and soldiers are now deployed all over France “to ensure the security of the French,” Mr. Cazeneuve said. | About 120,000 police officers and soldiers are now deployed all over France “to ensure the security of the French,” Mr. Cazeneuve said. |
| That includes 8,000 officers deployed at the country’s borders, which are now being controlled — a temporary suspension of the European Union’s open-border rules — under the state of emergency, which will last at least three more months. | That includes 8,000 officers deployed at the country’s borders, which are now being controlled — a temporary suspension of the European Union’s open-border rules — under the state of emergency, which will last at least three more months. |
| In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, which took place in more than five locations, there was talk of canceling the conference, as the attention of high-ranking officials here shifted sharply to terrorism. | In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, which took place in more than five locations, there was talk of canceling the conference, as the attention of high-ranking officials here shifted sharply to terrorism. |
| But pushed by the French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, who for months has focused his attentions on the conference preparations, the two-week summit meeting is going ahead, though in a somewhat scaled-down form. | But pushed by the French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, who for months has focused his attentions on the conference preparations, the two-week summit meeting is going ahead, though in a somewhat scaled-down form. |
| About 200 events around the conference, which is hoped will lead to a global agreement on cuts to greenhouse gases, have already been called off, as has a large-scale march against climate change that had been scheduled for Sunday. | About 200 events around the conference, which is hoped will lead to a global agreement on cuts to greenhouse gases, have already been called off, as has a large-scale march against climate change that had been scheduled for Sunday. |
| Yet as Mr. Fabius proudly noted recently, not a single one of the dozens of heads of state expected have renounced their plans to come to the largest diplomatic conference held in France since 1948, and several who were tardy in replying have now said they will attend. | |
| With France still in shock over the attacks and talking of little else, Mr. Fabius was undertaking a final global climate-change tour, trying with mixed success to hammer out commitments from recalcitrant pollution-spewing nations like India. But his efforts got little play in French media in the aftermath of the Paris attacks. | With France still in shock over the attacks and talking of little else, Mr. Fabius was undertaking a final global climate-change tour, trying with mixed success to hammer out commitments from recalcitrant pollution-spewing nations like India. But his efforts got little play in French media in the aftermath of the Paris attacks. |
| On Wednesday, Mr. Cazeneuve announced that 2,800 extra police officers would be assigned to the climate conference’s 40-acre site just outside Paris, where about 60 pavilions and restaurants have been built. | On Wednesday, Mr. Cazeneuve announced that 2,800 extra police officers would be assigned to the climate conference’s 40-acre site just outside Paris, where about 60 pavilions and restaurants have been built. |
| Mr. Cazeneuve said that mobile police force units, including riot police officers, “will be deployed at an unprecedented level, in Paris and in the provinces, to assure public order and to prevent any misbehavior.” | Mr. Cazeneuve said that mobile police force units, including riot police officers, “will be deployed at an unprecedented level, in Paris and in the provinces, to assure public order and to prevent any misbehavior.” |
| In Belgium on Thursday, the authorities lowered a terrorism alert that had paralyzed Brussels, the l nation’s capital, declaring that the threat of a Paris-style assault was still “serious” but no longer “imminent.” | |
| The decision to reduce the threat level to 3, from the highest level, 4, lifted a mood of foreboding that has gripped Brussels since last weekend but left intact a mystery over what information had led to initial government warnings of a “serious and imminent” threat. Also unclear was what had changed since. | |
| The fact that at least one of the suspects in the Paris attacks remains at large, possibly in Belgium, has added to a lingering sense of insecurity. On the other hand, experts said Wednesday, from a security point of view the climate conference comes at an ideal time, since France is already on maximum alert. | |
| “I don’t think we will be able to go further in terms of security measures,” said the security consultant and terrorism expert Jean-Charles Brisard. “There’s nothing more we can do, in terms of the state of emergency.” | “I don’t think we will be able to go further in terms of security measures,” said the security consultant and terrorism expert Jean-Charles Brisard. “There’s nothing more we can do, in terms of the state of emergency.” |
| In an attempt to limit the use of private vehicles, the authorities also announced on Wednesday that public transportation would be free of charge on Sunday and Monday and that some major highways around Paris would be closed. | In an attempt to limit the use of private vehicles, the authorities also announced on Wednesday that public transportation would be free of charge on Sunday and Monday and that some major highways around Paris would be closed. |
| In one sign of how the attacks have pushed the climate change conference from the top concerns of French leaders, the topic of the conference did not come up in a discussion lasting over an hour and a half this week when Prime Minister Manuel Valls hosted correspondents. | In one sign of how the attacks have pushed the climate change conference from the top concerns of French leaders, the topic of the conference did not come up in a discussion lasting over an hour and a half this week when Prime Minister Manuel Valls hosted correspondents. |
| Security, and the need to prepare French people for heightened danger in their country, dominated the prime minister’s remarks. | Security, and the need to prepare French people for heightened danger in their country, dominated the prime minister’s remarks. |
| “We’ve got to prepare the French for this new situation,” Mr. Valls said. “Watch out, live with it. We could suffer new attacks.” | “We’ve got to prepare the French for this new situation,” Mr. Valls said. “Watch out, live with it. We could suffer new attacks.” |