International. A historic agreement to combat climate change and unleash actions and investments towards a low-carbon, resilient and sustainable future was agreed by 195 nations today in Paris.
The Paris Agreement for the first time brings all nations into a common cause based on their historical, current and future responsibilities.
The main goal of the universal agreement is to maintain this century a global temperature well below 2 degrees Celsius, and to boost efforts to limit temperature rise even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
The 1.5 degrees Celsius limit is a much safer line of defense against the worst impacts of climate change.
In addition, the agreement aims to strengthen the capacity to cope with the impacts of climate change. To achieve these objectives, appropriate financial flows will be put in place, strengthening the actions of developing countries and the most vulnerable possible, in accordance with their own national objectives.
"The Paris Agreement allows every delegation and group of countries to return home with their heads held high. Our collective effort is worth more than the sum of our individual effort. Our responsibility to history is immense," said Laurent Fabius, President of the UN Climate Change Conference – COP 21, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of France.
French President Francois Hollande told the assembled delegates: "They have done it, they reached an ambitious agreement, a binding agreement, a universal agreement. I will never be able to express more gratitude at a conference. They can be proud to be in front of their children and grandchildren."
