The global climate change agreement reached a landmark accord on Saturday. Representatives of the 195 countries set the course for a historic transformation. The deal commits every country to lower planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions to help in keeping the drastic effects of climate change at bay.
The historic deal was received with eruption of cheer and standing ovations from thousands of delegates who gathered from across the world to address the international efforts of climate change, New York Times reported.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius declared the climate change pact as adopted on Saturday.
Fabius was quoted as saying by the New York Times: "With a small hammer you can achieve great things," as he announced the agreement. The agreement capped two weeks of tense negotiations at the Paris summit outside the French capital city.
"It is a victory for all of the planet and for future generations," said US Secretary of State John Kerry, who led the US negotiations in Paris, Reuters reported.
Such pacts set on a global scale would typically require richer economies such as the United States to take action to lower their greenhouse gas emissions, but developing countries such as India and China have been exempted from such obligations.
"This is truly a historic moment. For the first time, we have a truly universal agreement on climate change, one of the most crucial problems on earth," said Ban ki-Moon, the United Nations Secretary General in an interview, New York Times reported.
After years of bickering, scientists and leaders said the agreement represented the world's last chance of saving the earth from devastating effects of a warming planet.
The final agreement also included a more ambitious objective of restraining the rise in temperatures to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). This level is above pre-industrial levels. Until now the line was drawn only at 2 degrees, according to Reuters.
"Climate justice has won at the recently concluded Paris Climate Change Conference. The deliberations at COP 21 and Paris Agreement have demonstrated the collective wisdom of world leaders to mitigate climate change," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in an official statement.
In a series of tweets, the Modi said he believes the Paris outcome has no winners or losers.
Outcome of #ParisAgreement has no winners or losers. Climate justice has won & we are all working towards a greener future. @COP21 @COP21en
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 13, 2015
#ClimateChange remains a challenge but #ParisAgreement demonstrates how every nation rose to the challenge, working towards a solution.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 13, 2015