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Climate change plan ‘historic turning point’ if adopted

By some point after 2050, the agreement says, man-made emissions should be reduced to a level that forests and oceans can absorb.

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In a big victory for Modi government, it’s call for “Climate Justice” and sustainable lifestyle has been adhered to in the pact.

French President Francois Hollande, who joined the meeting on Saturday, called the proposal unprecedented.

Developing nations have insisted rich countries must shoulder the lion’s share of responsibility for tackling climate change as they have emitted most of the greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution. The agreement says these targets should be greater than the current ones and “reflect [the] highest possible amibition”.

Some countries had submitted their first round of targets until 2025, and others until 2030.

“$100 billion climate financing for developing countries by 2020 will be a floor”, he said.

The Eiffel Tower spells out a call for World Unity for COP21.

Thomas Coutrot of advocacy group Attac said the accord is an optical illusion that “masks” a lack of serious policy changes like abandoning oil altogether.

France, the summit’s host country, released a 31-page draft of the arrangement on Saturday after several weeks of fervent negotiations among worldwide leaders.

Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga of the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu was upbeat.

The official text of the accord will be made available later Saturday.

The text said that developed countries shall continue taking the lead by undertaking economy wide emission reduction targets while the developing countries should continue enhancing their mitigation efforts and are also encouraged to move over time towards economy wide emission reduction or limitation targets in the light of “different national circumstances”. The full text is set to be released at 1:30 p.m.in Paris. “Little things can happen but we think it’s teed up”.

Six years after the previous climate summit in Copenhagen ended in failure and acrimony, the Paris pact appears to have rebuilt much of the trust required for a concerted global effort to combat climate change, delegates say.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon said it’s an historic moment. We have to do as the science dictates.

“We must protect the planet that sustains us”, Ban told the negotiators. “We need all our hands on deck”, he told journalists here. From the outset, critics have said the emerging deal had serious weaknesses, most prominently the fact that envisaged emissions cuts will not be enough to keep warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial times, the level scientists say is needed to avert the worst effects of warming including severe droughts and rising sea levels.

That was a key demand of small island nations and other poor and vulnerable countries.

It’s the world’s first comprehensive climate agreement, with all countries expected to pitch in.

If the 190 nations gathered in Paris agree to an accord, it would be a breakthrough.

The talks were initially scheduled to end Friday.

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‘I now invite the COP to adopt the document the Paris Agreement, I see no objections, ‘ French foreign minister Laurent Fabius announced. Hollande’s presence will give extra weight to Saturday’s session.

19 2015 smoke belches from a coal-fired power station near Datong in China's northern Shanxi province. AFP