Paris COP21 Conference Adopts ‘Historic’ Climate Accord

(RFE/RL) — Delegates at a United Nations-sponsored conference in Paris have adopted a global pact to reduce climate change.

Nearly 200 nations adopted the document — described as the first climate deal to commit all countries to cut emissions — on December 12 after two weeks of negotiations. It is to come into force in 2020.

The text sets the objective of making sure that global warming stays “well below” 2 degrees Celsius and continuing to “pursue efforts” to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Temperatures have already increased by 1 degree Celsius since pre-industrial times.

To achieve that goal, governments pledged to stop the rise in greenhouse gas emissions “as soon as possible.” By some point after 2050, man-made emissions should be reduced to a level that nature can absorb.

However, there is no penalty for countries that miss their emission-reduction targets.

The measures also include $100 billion a year in climate finance for developing countries by 2020, with a commitment to increase the figure in the future.

Delegates rose to their feet cheering and applauding as French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius struck the gavel to signal the adoption of the deal.

“This is huge: Almost every country in the world just signed on to the #ParisAgreement,” U.S. President Barack Obama said on Twitter.

“This is an historic success,” German Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks said. “Today I can say: We have written history together here.”

According to Brazilian Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira, “Today, we’ve proven that it’s possible for every country to come together, hand in hand, to do its part to fight climate change.”

“History will remember this day,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said. “The Paris agreement on climate change is a monumental success for the planet and its people.”

Most environmental activists reacted positively to the agreement, which replaces the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, but warned it was only the first step of many.

“Today the human race has joined in a common cause, but it’s what happens after this conference that really matters,” Kumi Naidoo of Greenpeace said. “This deal alone won’t dig us out the hole we’re in, but it makes the sides less steep.”

“World governments finalized a global agreement today in Paris that lays a foundation for long-term efforts to fight climate change,” the WWF conservation group said.

However, it also warned that “more effort is needed to secure a path that would limit warming to 1.5C.”

Commenting before the approval of the pact, some environmental groups had said the final draft agreement would be a huge blow to the fossil-fuel industry.

“The wheel of climate action turns slowly, but in Paris it has turned,” Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo said. “This deal puts the fossil-fuel industry on the wrong side of history.”

According to May Boeve, executive director of 350.org, an organization pressing financial institutions to divest from fossil fuels, “There is no way to meet the targets laid out in this agreement without keeping coal, oil, and gas in the ground.”