Historic climate change deal signed in Paris

The first universal, legally binding deal to tackle global warming has been reached at the UN meeting in Paris.

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Corina Cristea, 14.12.2015, 14:11

Six years after the failure of the summit in Copenhagen, a historic accord has been reached on keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius, beyond which scientists say the world will see the most severe effects of climate change, including heat waves, droughts and flooding. The deal was agreed on at the UN talks in Paris. Aimed at thoroughly changing, in the upcoming decades, the unsustainable economy based on the consumption of the current fossil fuels and at limiting climate change, an accord has been finally reached Paris after years of negotiations.

These negotiations have been held against divergent interests of the advanced and developing countries and of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. The French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, who presented the draft accord before the representatives of the 200 states that took part in the conference on Saturday, said, quote, “our responsibility to history is immense.”

Besides setting the goal of limiting global warming to the level of 2 degrees Celsius, an accompanying, non-binding agreement requires developed countries to continue a goal of mobilising 100 billion dollars for developing countries each year after 2020, with the commitments to be revised every 5 years alongside a global assessment of the progress to made in reaching the set goals. Among the provisions of the new accord is also increasing the capability of developing states to adjust to climate change.

Political leaders worldwide and representatives of the IMF, World Bank and the International Energy Agency hailed the signing of the historic accord in Paris. The European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker has said that the world is now united against climate change, while according to British PM David Cameron “this generation has taken vital steps to ensure that our children and grandchildren will see that we did our duty in securing the future of our planet.”

The Romanian Environment Minister, Cristina Pasca, told Radio Romania that the EU has been actively involved in the climate change negotiations in Paris. According to UN experts, the damage caused by global warming exceeds 125 billion dollars every year, with 4 billion people highly vulnerable to it and around 500 millions living in high-risk areas.

(Translated by Elena Enache)