AP Photo Al Gore suspends Eiffel Tower climate event after Paris attacks

Al Gore’s 24-hour "Live Earth" climate change webcast, which launched this afternoon from Paris’ Eiffel Tower, has been suspended because of the attacks in the French capital.

"Out of solidarity with the French people and the City of Paris, we have decided to suspend our broadcast of 24 Hours of Reality and Live Earth,” the former vice president said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with all who have been affected and the entire nation of France. We send our condolences to the families of those who have been killed or injured."


The Gore-led event, timed ahead of a major U.N. global warming summit that will begin Nov. 30 in Paris, had already featured a musical performance from Duran Duran. Additional segments were slated to continue through Friday night and into Saturday in eight other cities around the world, including Miami, Beijing and Delhi.

President Barack Obama and dozens of world leaders are slated to descend on Paris for the start of the high-stakes climate talks. It's unclear whether the attacks will delay the negotiations, which have already involved months of planning. But it's almost certain that security will be increased dramatically. Obama will is scheduled to be in Paris from Nov. 30-Dec. 1.

The United Nations, which is hosting the talks, deplored the attacks in the statement. But it has not yet said anything about the attacks’ impact on the negations.

Two senior Obama administration officials, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, had previously touted on their Twitter accounts their plans to speak with Gore during the Live Earth telethon.

Earlier, Gore was providing hourly updates on Twitter from the event before the attacks had started. Around 4 p.m. Eastern time, Gore thanked @duranduran “for performing live in Paris at #24HoursofReality. You were tremendous!”

A Gore spokeswoman in an email to POLITICO said “everyone associated with the broadcast is accounted for."

Andrew Restuccia contributed to this report.