Eurotopics.net

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has opened the Climate Change Conference with an urgent appeal. Climate change is 'a matter of life and death' for entire countries, he said on Monday in Katowice. Delegates from 197 countries will discuss how to implement the Paris Agreement and other issues until December 14. Europe's commentators second Guterres's appeal.

French President Macron is apparently back-pedalling in the wake of the violence during protests by the yellow vests on the weekend. Government sources indicate that the hike in the environmental tax on diesel and petrol will not come into effect. Journalists seek to explain why the people of France are so angry.

The protests against President Macron that started over an increase in petrol prices turned violent on the weekend. In Paris cars were set on fire and windows smashed, while masked protesters marched through the streets brandishing axes and metal bars. Commentators see no chance of a constructive dialogue in France.

Former US president George H. W. Bush has died aged 94. As 41st president of the United States he succeeded Ronald Regan in 1989 - the year the Berlin Wall came down - and shaped Western politics in a time of radical change. While some commentators praise the president's handling of events others point to his mistakes.