France praises new step forward toward UN climate agreement in Paris next month

An employee sprays algicide in the courtyard of the Elysee Palace after French President Francois Hollande met with business leaders to discuss the carbon prices, as part of the preparation of the upcoming Climate Conference, Tuesday Nov. 10, 2015 in Paris. The Nov. 30-Dec. 11 climate conference will take place in Le Bourget, outside Paris. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon) (The Associated Press)

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French President Francois Hollande, right, poses with Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba, upon arrivals at the Elysee Palace for a meeting as part of preparation of the upcoming COP21 Climate Conference in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) (The Associated Press)

French President Francois Hollande, left, welcomes Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba, upon arrivals at the Elysee Palace for a meeting as part of preparation of the upcoming COP21 Climate Conference in Paris, France, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) (The Associated Press)

PARIS – French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius says an important step has been made toward an agreement at the U.N. climate conference in Paris next month, following a three-day ministerial meeting in the capital to prepare negotiations.

Fabius said senior officials from 70 countries gathered in Paris agreed on the principle of a mechanism to reassess the countries' emission pledges every five years in order to improve them.

"There is still significant work to be done but success is indispensable," Fabius said at a news conference on Tuesday.

The Nov. 30-Dec. 11 conference will gather more than 190 parties to seek an agreement aimed at limiting the rise in global temperatures between pre-industrial times and the end of this century.