What you need to know about the Paris climate talks

The climate talks in Paris this week and next are a big deal.

The tide on climate discussions seems to be turning, and these talks could actually result in a binding agreement across the world to cut carbon emissions, and potentially curb climate change.

Here's everything you need to know about the talks:

What is it?

The United Nations Climate Change Conference- also known as the COP21, which stands for the 21st annual "Conference of Parties" to decide the UN's Framework on Climate Change.

It's also called the CMP11 for the 11th meeting of the Conference of the meeting of the Parties to the 1992 Kyoto Protocol.

When is it?

The conference is being held from November 30 to December 11, with legally binding agreements hopefully taking effect on the last day.

Who is participating?

Leaders from 195 nations are attending, including the US, China, India, the EU, and Brazil. The full list of countries can be found here.

About 25,000 officials are expected to attend, with a total of 50,000 participants. Here's a very awkward panorama of most of the leaders:

What are they doing?

The goal is for countries to agree to a specific, legally binding plan to cut their carbon emissions, with the hope to keep global warming under 2 degrees Celsius.

The countries that create 90% of the world's carbon emissions have carbon-cutting plans at the ready coming into the meeting. But, according to the New York Times, studies suggest that even with these cuts, the world could still warm by up to 6 degrees Celsius.

One of the big issues at play is what "legally binding" means, especially since it could be extremely difficult for the US Senate to agree to a formal treaty, since the Republican majority in Congress has a climate change denial streak.

Developed countries also have to figure out how they're going to carve out $100 billion per year by 2020 to help developing countries defend against the effects of climate change that have already been locked in.

Meeting these goals will require a lot of negotiation and closed-door talks.

Why now?

Climate experts warn any global temperature spike above 2 degrees Celsius could bring devastating consequences, from unavoidable sea level rise to unpredictable shifts in weather and drought. These impacts could devastate agriculture and send people living in low lying areas of the world running.

The planet's current emission rate has already brought us up 1 degree Celsius, and we still have no global strategy in place to combat climate change. Some scientists already think we've emitted too much carbon to keep the world below the 2 degree goal, but the sooner we act, the better humanity will fare in the long run.

If that doesn't convince you, watch this galvanizing video from the UN:

Hasn't the world tried to make similar agreements before?

Yes.

The first was the Kyoto Protocol in 1992, which US Congress never ratified, essentially making the agreement moot.

A similar issue has happened at many talks over the years, including Copenhagen's in 2009 - the nations just couldn't agree on a legally binding plan.

So why will the Paris talks be any different?

Quite frankly, they have to be.

"There is such a thing as being too late," President Obama said in his opening remarks at the talks, quoting Martin Luther King Jr. "And when it comes to climate change that hour is almost upon us."

Public opinion in the US has finally swayed toward wanting to take action, too.

Two-thirds of Americans now support signing on to an agreement that would legally bind the US, the rest of the world, to cut carbon emissions, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll released Nov. 30.

Where can I watch it?

There's a livestream on the UN site here, which you can play back on demand.

Climate Talks Live is also keeping track of what's trending by the hour. And Twitter has multiple hashtags for the event, with #cop21 being the most popular, but very active and frequently in languages other than English.

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