Ayhan Şimşek
13 December 2015•Update: 18 December 2015
BERLIN
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has hailed the new and almost universal agreement on climate change, saying it marks a momentous point for efforts to fight global warming.
“This agreement represents a genuine new course for energy transition in the world,” Merkel told reporters on Sunday, ahead of a national congress of her Christian Democrats in Karlsruhe, southwestern Germany.
International delegates from 195 countries struck an international deal in Paris on Saturday to keep global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius.
Merkel said the agreement reached at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) could be a real opportunity to address climate change.
“There is a chance now; billions of people do not need to be afraid of their future, if everybody will really comply with the commitments this time,” she said.
The Paris climate deal has become the first legally binding and universal agreement on climate change in over 20 years of UN negotiations.
Merkel said the international community had demonstrated a sign of reason by concluding the climate deal at a difficult time when many countries were confronted by the challenges of terrorism and conflict.
The text of the deal foresees a revision of national plans, aiming to cut carbon emissions, as well as creating a $100-billion support package for developing countries.
Current greenhouse-gas emissions agreements will expire in 2020.
The official signing ceremony will take place at the beginning of 2016 at the UN's headquarters in New York.
COP21 attracted close to 50,000 participants, including 25,000 official delegates from governments, intergovernmental organizations, UN agencies, NGOs and civil society.
