For better or worse, Paris has been the focal point of the world’s attention for the past couple of months. Fortunately, it appears the City of Lights is finally playing host to some good news, as the final draft of the massive international climate talks has been tabled for consideration.
The paper calls for 195 nations to strike a deal between each other, limiting greenhouse emissions and guaranteeing the rise in global temperatures won’t top 2 degrees Celsius.
Since there are, uh, 195 nations represented at the COP21 conference, it’s taking a little while to translate the thing for everybody, but that hasn’t stopped the optimism of some international heavy hitters.
After “urging and appealing to all the state parties to take the final decision for humanity,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said the deal “promises to set the world on a new path to a low-emissions, climate-resilient future”.
“Nature is sending urgent signals and people in countries are threatened as never before. We have to do as the science dictates. We must protect the planet that sustains us.”
Discussing progress on #climatechange agreement UNSG Ban Ki Moon #cop21 pic.twitter.com/u5WM0mxu2D
— Julie Bishop (@JulieBishopMP) December 11, 2015
The French foreign minister called it “a historic turning point,” while president François Hollande has basically called out to the planet too, saying this is it:
“Today we are close to the final outcome. It is my deep conviction that we have come up with an ambitious and balanced agreement. Today it is a moment of truth.”
If that didn’t put a fine point on how important the deal is, keep this in mind: if the average global temperature shoots up any more than two degrees, the ocean will basically make mankind its own personal sea monkeys.
Story: ABC.
Photo: Andalou Agency / Getty.
