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Leaders of the climate change talks in Paris announced that a final draft agreement has been reached, describing the deal as "a historic accord" that will transform the world's fossil fuel-driven economy within decades and reduce the effects of global warming.
In an address to an audience of over 1,000 political figures from across the world, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius confirmed the pact proposes to limit global warming to "well" below 2.0 degrees Celsius and will strive for an even more ambitious goal of 1.5 degree Celsius.
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The report calls on the richer nations to provide a minimum of USD$100bn a year between them to help the developing world attain their targets set in the 20 page report and to combat the global warming effects they face.
Although it is not yet clear if such a financial commitment is legally binding.
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.@LaurentFabius "We are almost at the end of one journey, and at the beginning of a new one" #ParisAgreement #COP21 pic.twitter.com/HqzCWCUYaK
— UN Climate Action (@UNFCCC)
December 12, 2015
Nations have also agreed to a five-year cycle for reviewing national pledges to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.
"Our responsibility to history is immense," he told the audience in the conference venue on the outskirts of Paris.
"It confirms our key objective, the objective which is vital, that of continuing to have a mean temperature well below two degrees and to endeavor to limit that increase to one point five degrees," he continued.
Ministers from the participating countries now have to decide whether or not to approve the proposed agreement.
The negotiations hit a stumbling block on Thursday night, causing the conference to be extended by one day, with reported discourse from European countries and the U.S. over the financial implications of the deal. Others had doubts as to whether the goal to cut global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius is achievable.
Before the summit environmentalists warned that failure to set a cap could lead to super-droughts, deadlier heat waves, mass extinctions of plants and animals, mega-floods and rising sea levels in a number of years.
Protesters clash with riot police during a rally against global warming in Paris, a day ahead of the start of UN conference on climate change COP21, Nov.28, 2015 | Photo:Reuters
Despite the agreement thousands of environmental activists are set to take to the streets of Paris today in a protest to urge world leaders to do more about climate change.
"This gathering is about respect. We know that our leaders have shown little respect – not for the rights of people on a planet torn by inequality and racism, not for the red lines for a just and livable planet. Lines we should dare not violate," read a statement from the campaigning group 350.org, which is coordinating the event.
Public demonstrations in France are still banned after the Nov. 13, 2015 terror attacks that rocked Paris. The French parliament declared a state of emergency stretching three months, that forbade the large gathering of people in the capital, after the assault that killed 130 people.
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