Paris - Environmentalist and former US Vice President Al Gore is optimistic that world leaders will reach a crucial deal this year on fighting climate change.
Gore met on Monday with French President Francois Hollande, who will be hosting a major UN climate conference in Paris on November 30 to December 11.
After the meeting, Gore said, "this conference is the one where the world will say yes to an agreement to reduce global warming and pollution."
Gore negotiated for the US at the 1997 conference that produced the Kyoto Protocol to reduce global warming. That treaty has been largely ineffective because it only required rich countries to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
The Paris conference is aiming at a new, larger framework, but many differences remain about which countries should do what.