US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping joined forces on Monday with other nations to emphasize the importance of reaching an agreement to slow the increase in global temperatures, which is causing floods, heat waves, and rising sea levels. However, as the leaders departed from Paris, negotiators from 195 countries were left to hash out a draft text exceeding 50 pages which still contained unresolved disagreements. The primary issue at hand is how to generate the necessary billions of dollars to fund cleaner energy sources crucial for the development of emerging countries without heavy reliance on fossil fuels. Despite the challenges, many delegates viewed the large turnout at the UN climate summit in Paris as a hopeful sign, especially following the failure of the previous summit in Copenhagen in 2009. French President Francois Hollande expressed optimism for the ongoing talks scheduled to continue until December. "It started off well, but it also needs to reach its destination," he informed the reporters. He mentioned that there were two obstacles: either the vessel will sink if overloaded, or it will not move if emptied. The technical discussions did not echo the extravagant language used on Monday. Countries reaffirmed their stances in negotiations, with little indication of potential compromise. China's representative Su Wei expressed concern over the wealthy nations' lack of dedication to making significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and providing financial assistance to developing countries in addressing global warming. Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists described the discussions as getting down to the essential details, noting that while the opening day went well, critical issues remained unresolved. Peruvian Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar Vidal stated that the draft agreement still offered various choices, but all parties demonstrated their commitment to reaching an agreement. Positive developments included India and France's pledge to raise $1 trillion for solar power initiatives for impoverished communities and a private sector initiative spearheaded by Bill Gates to secure substantial funding for new energy research and development. Yvo de Boer, the former UN climate chief in Copenhagen, stated that leaders are still affected by the memories of the Copenhagen summit. He noted that the presence of many leaders on the opening day of the Paris summit shows their commitment to taking action. A potential agreement in Paris would be the most robust yet in terms of binding both wealthy and developing nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which are causing global warming. Liz Gallagher from the E3G environmental think-tank believes that the opening day of the summit has increased the likelihood of reaching an agreement, but identified climate finance as a major point of contention. Developing countries are calling for wealthier nations to commit to increasing their financial contributions beyond the current target of $100 billion annually by 2020 in order to support their transition to clean energy sources and adaptation to the impacts of climate change. Disputes also exist over establishing a long-term plan for phasing out fossil fuels. The G7 nations recently agreed to a goal of decarbonizing the global economy by 2100, but China and India argue that they still need to utilize coal to alleviate poverty and prefer a gradual shift towards low-carbon development. Despite pledges from approximately 170 countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions post-2020, these commitments are deemed insufficient to prevent global temperatures from increasing beyond 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This is commonly seen as a point at which significant and possibly disastrous alterations in the Earth's climate system could occur.