week 2-Paris Climate Change Conference

Paris Climate Change Conference

The pact is the first to commit all countries to cut carbon emissions.
The agreement is partly legally binding and partly voluntary.
Earlier, key blocs, including the G77 group of developing countries, and nations such as China and India said they supported the proposals.
President of the UN climate conference of parties (COP) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said: "I now invite the COP to adopt the decision entitled Paris Agreement outlined in the document.

"Looking out to the room I see that the reaction is positive, I see no objections. The Paris agreement is adopted."
COP21: In summary
As he struck the gavel to signal the adoption of the deal, delegates rose to their feet cheering and applauding.
US President Barack Obama has hailed the agreement as "ambitious" and "historic", but also warned against complacency.
"Together, we've shown what's possible when the world stands as one," he said.
And although admitting that the deal was not "perfect", he said it was "the best chance to save the one planet we have".
China's chief negotiator Xie Zhenhua said the deal was not perfect. But he added that "this does not prevent us from marching historical steps forward".
Nearly 200 countries took part in the negotiations to strike the first climate deal to commit all countries to cut emissions, which would come into being in 2020.
The chairman of the group representing some of the world's poorest countries called the deal historic, adding: "We are living in unprecedented times, which call for unprecedented measures.
"It is the best outcome we could have hoped for, not just for the Least Developed Countries, but for all citizens of the world."

Key points

The measures in the agreement included:
• 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.

Analysis: The BBC's Matt McGrath in Paris

The speeches and the cliches at the adoption of the Paris Agreement flowed like good champagne - success after all has many fathers! The main emotion is relief. The influence of the COP president, Laurent Fabius, cannot be overstated. His long diplomatic career gave him a credibility seldom matched in this arena. He used his power well.
The deal that has been agreed, under Mr Fabius, is without parallel in terms of climate change or of the environment. It sets out a clear long term temperature limit for the planet and a clear way of getting there. There is money for poor countries to adapt, there is a strong review mechanism to increase ambition over time. This is key if the deal is to achieve the aim of keeping warming well below 2C.
More than anything though the deal signifies a new way for the world to achieve progress - without it costing the Earth. A long term perspective on the way we do sustainability is at the heart of this deal. If it delivers that, it truly will be world changing.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35084374

Structure of the Lead：

      WHO-President of the UN

      WHEN-not given

      WHAT-conference

      WHY-green affect

      WHERE-Paris

      HOW-agreement

Keywords：

   1. proposal： 提案

   2. Minister： 部長

   3. gavel：木槌

   4. delegate：代表

   5. hail：冰雹

   6. complacency：自滿

   7. negotiator：談判

   8. march：前進

   9. unprecedented：史無前例

 10. cliche：陳詞濫調