PARIS: Envoys from 196-member states approved on Saturday an accord to stop global warming, offering hope that humanity can avert catastrophic climate change and usher in an energy revolution.
“I see the room, I see the reaction is positive, I hear no objection. The Paris climate accord is adopted,” said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, banging down a gavel to cap a decades-long diplomatic quest to combat climate change.
After the agreement was passed, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said that India was satisfied that the pact has unequivocally adopted climate Justice. “We are happy the agreement differentiates between the responsibilities of the developing and developed nations,” he said.
Congratulating the world on the agreement, US President Barack Obama said in a tweet, “This is huge: Almost every country in the world just signed on to the Paris Agreement on climate change – thanks to American leadership.”
British Prime Minister David Cameron said that the pact was a “huge step forward in helping secure the future.”
According to the proposal, the member countries together are expected to cap the rate of global warming to 2 degrees Celsius compared to the current 2.5 to 3.76 degrees Celsius.
But the measures required to cut down emissions had been a vexed issue, especially for developing nations.
The talks, which were to be held for nearly a fortnight, ran into overtime despite all-night negotiations.
The deal will involve mobilising a minimum of $100 billion (92 billion euros) a year from 2020 to help the developing world cope with global warming, he said.
A new figure for the financing would be set by 2025, Mr Fabius said, adding that the overall agreement would be “legally binding”.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had pressed the world’s envoys to approve the pact. He said that the Paris agreement marks a decisive turning point to reduce the risks of climate change, adding that every country in the world has pledged to curb emissions for the first time.
“What was once unthinkable has become unstoppable,” Ban-Ki-moon said
