“We will hold every country accountable for meeting their commitments”.
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Protesters in the French capital form a red line that summit negotiators should not cross.
Obama said the agreement is not ideal, but sets a framework that will contain periodic reviews and assessments to ensure that countries meet their commitments to curb carbon emissions.
Another tender topic. Poor and developing countries wanted wealthier nations to pay to help develop new, clean energy sources that would not prevent them from growing economically.
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who’s also seeking a 2016 Democratic White House bid, took to Twitter to laud the climate change agreement.
A draft agreement was last night whittled down from 50 pages to 31 – as the details of the accord were thrashed out.
“We’ve shown that the world has both the will and the ability to take on this challenge”.
Obama has pledged that the USA will cut its overall greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent to 28 percent by 2030. “It’s a moment to remember and a huge step forward in helping to secure the future of our planet”.
The Paris agreement commits countries to keeping the rise in global temperatures by the year 2100 compared with pre-industrial times “well below” 2C and “endeavour to limit” them even more, to 1.5C. “You can be proud that to stand before your children and grandchildren”, said French President Francois Hollande.
Deputy CEO of the Climate Institute Erwin Jackson said he would not have thought the agreement possible as little as a month ago.
“In the first ever universal climate agreement, leaders the world over have marked the end of the fossil fuel era and provided a catalyst for what could be the greatest period of technological innovation in the history of mankind”.
“This is a win for humanity”, said Brazil Minister of Environment Izabella Teixeira. “Brazil can accept this”.
“Years from now, our grandchildren will reflect on humanity’s moral courage to solve the climate crisis and they will look to December 12, 2015, as the day when the community of nations finally made the decision to act”, Gore said. “Billions of people are relying on your wisdom”, he said.
Secretary of State John Kerry said from Paris: “I have news for Senator Inhofe”.
With this year forecast to be the hottest year on record, world leaders and scientists had said the accord was vital for capping rising temperatures and averting the most calamitous impacts from climate change.
In my first inaugural address, I committed this country to the tireless task of combating climate change and protecting this planet for future generations.
COP 21 – the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties – will see more than 190 nations gather in Paris to discuss a possible new global agreement on climate change, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the threat of unsafe warming due to human activities.
But he said the deal is far from a flawless one as the level of funding support from rich countries to poor nations is still not satisfactory, and the industrialised countries have failed to pledge deeper emission cuts. That was one of the most hard pieces to agree on, with China asking for softer requirements for developing countries.
This equity provision is particularly aimed at the least developed countries and the small island developing states facing rising sea levels. Having signed the deal, Washington never ratified it.
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“Whereas we left Copenhagen scared of what comes next, we’ll leave Paris inspired to keep fighting”, said David Turnbull of Oil Change International, a research and advocacy organization opposed to fossil fuel production.
