The global climate summit in Paris agreed a
landmark accord on Saturday, setting the course for a historic transformation
of the world's fossil fuel-driven economy within decades in a bid to arrest
global warming.
After four years of fraught U.N. talks often
pitting the interests of rich nations against poor, imperiled island states
against rising economic powerhouses, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius
declared the pact adopted to the standing applause and whistles of delegates
from almost 200 nations.
"With a small hammer you can achieve great
things," Fabius said as he gaveled the agreement, capping two weeks of
tense negotiations at the summit on the outskirts of Paris.
Hailed as the first truly global climate deal,
committing both rich and poor nations to reining in rising emissions blamed for
warming the planet, it sets out a sweeping long-term goal of eliminating net
man-made greenhouse gas output this century.
"It is a victory for all of the planet and
for future generations," said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who led
the U.S. negotiations in Paris.
"We have set a course here. The world has
come together around an agreement that will empower us to chart a new path for
our planet, a smart and responsible path, a sustainable path."
It also creates a system to encourage nations to
step up voluntary domestic efforts to curb emissions, and provides billions
more dollars to help poor nations cope with the transition to a greener economy
powered by renewable energy.
Calling it "ambitious and balanced",
Fabius said the accord would mark a "historic turning point" in
efforts to avert the potentially disastrous consequences of an overheated
planet.
The final agreement was essentially unchanged
from a draft unveiled earlier in the day, including a more ambitious objective
of restraining the rise in temperatures to "well below" 2 degrees
Celsius above pre-industrial levels, a mark scientists fear could be a tipping
point for the climate.
Previously, the goal on temperature rise was set
at 2 degrees Celsius in 2010.
In some ways its success was assured before the
summit began: 187 nations have submitted detailed national plans for how they
will contain the rise in greenhouse gas emissions, commitments that are the
core of the Paris deal.
While leaving each country to pursue those
measures on its own, the agreement finally sets a common vision and course of
action after years of bickering over how to move forward.
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