{"id":13533,"date":"2015-12-12T21:24:06","date_gmt":"2015-12-12T21:24:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/?p=13533"},"modified":"2018-04-22T12:02:23","modified_gmt":"2018-04-22T16:02:23","slug":"un-chief-hails-new-climate-change-agreement-as-monumental-triumph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/blog\/2015\/12\/un-chief-hails-new-climate-change-agreement-as-monumental-triumph\/","title":{"rendered":"Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ chief hails new climate change agreement as ”monumental triumph”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Following the adoption of the new Paris Agreement on climate change, United Nations\u00a0Secretary-General<\/a>\u00a0Ban Ki-moon said government representatives made history today.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Paris Agreement<\/a> is a monumental triumph for people and our planet,\u201d said Mr. Ban in a tweet, immediately following its adoption. \u201cIt sets the stage for progress in ending poverty, strengthening peace and ensuring a life of dignity and opportunity for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaveling the Agreement with a green hammer, the French Foreign Minister and President of COP21 Laurent Fabius announced the historic news\u2014a moment greeted with loud applause and cheers, as the room stood up. Many delegates hugged, while others had tears in their eyes.<\/p>\n

For the first time today, 195 Parties to the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Framework Convention on Climate Change (Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵFCCC<\/a>)\u2014pledged to curb emissions, strengthen resilience and joined to take common climate action. This followed two weeks of tireless negotiations at the United Nations climate change conference (COP21<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the face of an unprecedented challenge, you have demonstrated unprecedented leadership,\u201d the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ chief said taking the COP21 stage just minutes later. \u201cYou have worked collaboratively to achieve something that no one nation could achieve alone. This is a resounding success for multilateralism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recalling that he made climate change one of the defining priorities of his tenure as Secretary-General, Mr. Ban said that most of all, he has listened to people \u2013 the young, the poor and the vulnerable, including indigenous peoples, from every corner of the globe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey seek protection from the perils of a warming planet, and the opportunity to live in a safer, more bountiful world,\u201d he underlined. \u201cThey have demanded that world leaders act to safeguard their well-being and that of generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turning to the agreement itself, the Secretary-General said negotiators reached \u201csolid results on all key points,\u201d with an agreement that demonstrates solidarity and \u201cis ambitious, flexible, credible and durable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll countries have agreed to hold global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius. And recognizing the risk of grave consequences, you have further agreed to pursue efforts to limit temperature increase to 1.5 degrees,\u201d he announced.<\/p>\n

In addition, a review mechanism has been established whereby every five years, beginning in 2018, Parties will regularly review what is needed in line with science.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernments have agreed to binding, robust, transparent rules of the road to ensure that all countries do what they have agreed across a range of issues,\u201d Mr. Ban added.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, highlighting the role of the private sector, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ chief said business leaders came to Paris in unprecedented numbers and that \u201cpowerful\u201d climate solutions are already available while many more are to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith these elements in place, markets now have the clear signal they need to unleash the full force of human ingenuity and scale up investments that will generate low-emissions, resilient growth,\u201d he said, adding that \u201cwhat was once unthinkable has now become unstoppable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen historians look back on this day, they will say that global cooperation to secure a future safe from climate change took a dramatic new turn here in Paris,\u201d Mr. Ban stated. \u201cToday, we can look into the eyes of our children and grandchildren, and we can finally say, tell them that we have joined hands to bequeath a more habitable world to them and to future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ending his remarks, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ chief said that all Parties should be proud of the Paris Agreement and that \u201cthe work starts tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor today, congratulations again on a job well done,\u201d he concluded. \u201cLet us work together, with renewed commitment, to make this a better world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Addressing the hundreds of delegates, Christiana Figueres, the Executive Secretary of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵFCCC, said \u201cwe did it in Paris.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have made history together. It is an agreement of conviction. It is an agreement of solidarity with the most vulnerable. It is an agreement of long-term vision, for we have to turn this agreement into an engine of safe growth,\u201d she exclaimed.<\/p>\n

Several other top Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ officials joined the Secretary-General in welcoming the new Agreement. This included the President of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ General Assembly, Mr. Mogens Lykketoft.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday”s agreement signals nothing less than a renaissance for humankind as we collectively embrace the global challenge of climate change and endeavor to transition to a more sustainable way of living that respects the needs of people and our planet,\u201d Mr. Lykketoft\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0in a statement.<\/p>\n

Echoing this message, the President of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Oh Joon, said the world has reached a key milestone in collective action for sustainable development.<\/p>\n

\u201cBold action against climate change will contribute to poverty reduction. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Economic and Social Council will take part in follow-up efforts,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Earlier today, at a meeting of the Committee of Paris

[Comit\u00e9 de Paris]\u2014the body which is overseeing the negotiations at COP21\u2014the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ chief spoke alongside the President of France, Fran\u00e7ois Hollande as well Minister Fabius.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe end is in sight. Let us now finish the job. The whole world is watching. Billions of people are relying on your wisdom,\u201d the Secretary-General had told delegates.<\/p>\n

In an emotional address during which he held back tears, Laurent Fabius said the agreement \u201cwill serve meaningful causes, food safety and security, public health, the fight against poverty and for essential rights, and therefore peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople worldwide, our citizens, our children, wouldn”t understand if we didn”t adopt it and wouldn”t forgive us,\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is rare to be given the opportunity to change the world,\u201d said President Fran\u00e7ois Hollande, wrapping up the meeting. \u201cYou have the opportunity to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

&nbsp<\/p>\n

Read the full Paris Agreement here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Via Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ News Centre<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Paris Agreement is a monumental triumph for people and our planet,\u201d said Mr. Ban in a tweet, immediately following its adoption. \u201cIt sets the stage for progress in ending poverty, strengthening peace and ensuring a life of dignity and opportunity for all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":230,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,4],"tags":[472,144,1141,1132,5217],"class_list":["post-13533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-climate-change","category-news","tag-ban-ki-moon","tag-climate-change","tag-climate-finance","tag-cop21","tag-paris-agreement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/230"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13533\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}