US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping joined forces on Monday with other countries to emphasize the importance of reaching an agreement to slow the increase in global temperatures, which are causing floods, heat waves, and rising sea levels. However, as the leaders departed from Paris, negotiators from 195 countries were left to finalize a draft text of over 50 pages that still contained many disagreements. The primary issue at hand is how to generate the necessary funds to support cleaner energy sources, which are essential for developing countries to progress without depending heavily on fossil fuels. Despite the challenges, many delegates were optimistic about the high attendance at the UN climate summit in Paris, following the failure of the 2009 summit in Copenhagen. French President Francois Hollande expressed his encouragement for the ongoing talks scheduled to continue until December. He told reporters that the beginning was good, but it also needs to reach its destination. He mentioned that there are two obstacles: either overloading the vessel causing it to sink, or emptying it and not reaching anywhere. The technical discussions did not echo the grand language used on Monday. Countries reiterated their negotiating stances with little indication of possible compromise. China's representative Su Wei expressed concern over the rich nations' lack of dedication to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide financial assistance to developing countries to combat global warming. Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists described the discussions as getting down to the essential details, stressing that while the initial day went well, critical issues remain unresolved. Peruvian Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar Vidal acknowledged that there are many options in the current text, but everyone has demonstrated their commitment to reaching an agreement. Positive developments included a $1 trillion initiative by India and France to promote solar power for impoverished populations, as well as a private sector effort led by Bill Gates to raise billions of dollars for new energy research and development. Yvo de Boer, who led the UN's climate talks in Copenhagen, mentioned that leaders still carry emotional and mental scars from that event. He noted that the presence of many leaders on the opening day of the Paris talks shows their determination to make progress. A potential agreement in Paris would be the most robust yet in terms of binding rich and poor nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which have caused significant climate change impacts. Liz Gallagher from the E3G environmental think-tank added that the opening day of the talks increased the likelihood of an agreement, but noted that the main challenge lies in reaching an agreement on climate finance. Developing countries are requesting that wealthier nations pledge more money beyond the current target of $100 billion per year by 2020 in order to assist them in transitioning to clean energy sources and handling the impacts of climate change. There are also disagreements over establishing a long-term plan for phasing out fossil fuels. The Group of Seven (G7) agreed in June to aim for decarbonizing the global economy by 2100, but China and India argue that they need to continue using coal to alleviate poverty and would prefer a gradual shift towards low-carbon development over the course of this century. However, the commitments made by approximately 170 countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions after 2020 are not strong enough to prevent global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as desired. It is commonly seen as a point at which dangerous and potentially catastrophic alterations in the Earth's climate system may occur.