After 13 days of intense negotiations, the representatives present at the 21st UN climate conference have finally reached an agreement to limit global warming. The deal was finalized overnight. This was announced by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and president of Cop 21 who, almost in tears with emotion, wanted to thank all those who made the agreement possible.
“We have the draft that is fair, ambitious and balanced and that reflects all parties. It is legally binding”, Fabius said, specifying that the agreement to limit global warming is well below the initial limit of 2 degrees since the bar has been further raised to the limit of 1 and a half degrees.
“This agreement – continued Fabius – is necessary for the entire world and for each of our countries. It will help island states to protect themselves from advancing seas that threaten their coasts; it will give financial means to Africa, it will support Latin America in the protection of its forests and it will support oil producers in diversifying their energy production. This text will serve the great causes: food security, the fight against poverty, essential rights and ultimately peace. We have reached the end of one journey but also the beginning of another. The world is holding its breath and counting on all of us."
But there is not only the ceiling of 1,5 degrees among the salient points of the Paris climate agreement. The draft that will be approved by the delegates in the afternoon envisages an allocation of 100 billion dollars between now and 2020 for developing countries and includes the provision relating to the five-year review of national plans aimed at cutting greenhouse gases.
Fabius closed his announcement on the climate agreement by quoting a famous phrase by the late Nelson Mandela, a phrase that bears witness to the importance of the agreement reached between all states to save the planet: "None of us acting alone can achieve success, success is brought by all our joined hands”.
