United Nations wants world leaders to sign climate deal on April 22

The landmark Paris Agreement on climate change was adopted on Saturday at the UN Climate Change Conference by 196 countries, committing them to curb global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and outline a roadmap to raise $100 billion annually towards a green fund for developing nations.

“We are satisfied with the agreement that has been signed in Paris”. The framework of the Paris Agreement is decisively shifting the burden on to developing countries, said the statement.

“We feel vindicated that all our major requirements have been accepted and have become a part of the agreement”, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar told Parliament. Climate change advocates should be more upset about the deal than skeptics. “What’s really going to make a difference is the individual countries’ policies, most of which are happening notwithstanding an worldwide agreement”. Addressing a press conference here today, the Minister said that India’s presence was strongly felt at COP 21 and that India’s views were heard and accounted for in the Paris Agreement. “We now have a binding global deal, and that is the way it should be seen”, said Mr Bell. “It is regrettable that the government of India, including the prime minister, having hailed the agreement as a great success”, it said.

“As technology advances, this agreement allows progress to pave the way for even more ambitious targets over time”.

“It reassures that the world community is coming together to provide a better earth to the future generations”, he said. Considering the challenges facing humanity, this is a much needed starting point, which will be aided by the stronger action by the developed countries to offer assistance to the States most at risk from the consequences of climate change. This protects it from climate change mitigation if this threatens food production. “All the principles bedrocked in the UNFCCC have been anchored into the agreement”, he said.

The Paris agreement also backs the concept of “carbon markets”, whereby countries could deliver on their carbon targets through market mechanisms and the trading of emissions allowances. It recognises the right of the developing countries to development and their efforts to harmonise development with environment while protecting the interests of the most vulnerable, he said.