Historic climate deal reached in Paris

A historic agreement attempting to limit the rise in global temperatures to less than 2C has been reached at the climate change summit in Paris.

After two weeks of negotiations ministers and bureaucrats from all over the world decided to cut carbon emissions.

This deal is the first one to commit almost 200 countries and the agreement is partly legally binding and partly voluntary.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius presenting the draft called it “differentiated, fair, durable, dynamic, balanced and legally binding”.

“It provides that every five years there will be a collective stocktaking. If adopted, this text will mark a historic turning point,” he said.
The key points of the agreement, as BBC reports, include:

• To peak greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible and achieve a balance between sources and sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century
• To keep global temperature increase “well below” 2C (3.6F) and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5C
• To review progress every five years
• $100 billion a year in climate finance for developing countries by 2020, with a commitment to further finance in the future.