Paris climate deal: nearly 200 nations sign in end of fossil fuel era

[Tokio]

Governments have signalled an end to the fossil fuel era, committing for the first time to a universal agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions and to avoid the most dangerous effects of climate change at crunch UN talks in Paris.

After 20 years of fraught meetings, including the past two weeks spent in an exhibition hall on the outskirts of Paris, negotiators from nearly 200 countries signed on to a deal on Saturday evening that set ambitious goals to limit temperature rise and to hold governments to account for reaching those targets.

After an anxious two-hour wait for the final plenary session to begin, Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, who was chairing the meeting, invited delegates to adopt the agreement. After looking up briefly, he brought down the gavel to widespread applause and cheering, signifying the deal had been formally agreed. “It is a small gavel but I think it can do a great job,” he said once the applause had died down.

François Hollande, the French president, appealed to negotiators to approve the 31-page text, and said countries had a rare chance to make history. “We are at a decisive point in time,” he said.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/environm...-deal-200-nations-sign-finish-fossil-fuel-era

 

[Inactive]

I'm loving this global warming.

Winter weak as f*ck for past few years