It was an unprecedented historic moment in Paris on Saturday, 12^th December, 2015 when the Paris Agreement was adopted by 195 countries of the world. The COP 21 had been extended by a day as negotiations got intense but on Saturday, came the moment that had been in the work for the past two weeks.

The new Climate deal, which is the first globally accepted agreement in tackling the effects of Climate Change, has Article 2(1a) as its major highlight and it reads "Holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2c  above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5c above pre-industrial levels, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change".

Other key points include:

Article 4.4 "Developed country Parties shall continue taking the lead by undertaking economy-wide absolute emission reduction targets. Developing country Parties should continue enhancing their mitigation efforts, and are encouraged to move over time towards economy-wide emission reduction or limitation targets in the light of different national circumstances".

Article 4.15 "Parties shall take into consideration in the implementation of this Agreement the concerns of Parties with economies most affected by the impacts of response measures, particularly developing country Parties".

Article 9.1 "Developed country Parties shall provide financial resources to assist developing country Parties with respect to both mitigation and adaptation in continuation of their existing obligations under the Convention".

The final full text of the Paris Agreement was made available on Saturday after the announcement.

 As soon as the agreement was announced, global leaders held their hands high together in cheers while tears also flowed as emotions ran high with some crying showing the crucial nature of the negotiations. The deal which has been described by many as the most difficult, most complicated and most important for humanity, will take effect from 2020 and will be reviewed every five years.

I am happy that this deal has the support of nearly 200 countries but saddened by the fact that it didn?t achieve all that was expected of it. It gives no clear protection to the rights of groups/regions vulnerable to Climate Change as it presented a position of shared responsibility. It also didn?t spell out modalities of contribution by developed country towards the $100 billion Green Climate Fund for developing countries affected by Climate Change. In simple terms, the deal did not ensure Climate Justice as developing economies will now be partly forced to put their coals and fossil fuels on the ground which is majorly the biggest resources they have to develop economically. There were pockets of protests by Climate groups in Paris as the deal was announced owing to a lack of Climate Justice especially as it concerned the vulnerable developing countries.

The submission of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) worked as it helped avert a potential failure at the crunch moments of negotiations unlike what happened in Copenhagen 2009 when attempts were made to impose emission targets on countries.

Also, President Obama of the US had to call some world leaders on phone notably Chinese President, Xi Jinping and those of India, France and Brazil (part of the big emitters) to help push through a deal.

Nonetheless, COP 21 was a great improvement on previous COP sessions as it now shows commitment by almost all countries of the world in tackling Climate Change. It has now been recognized as a global challenge that requires a global solution.

I had earlier stated that COP 21 is special because it is the first the world will seek to agree on a globally acceptable and legally binding climate deal. While it achieved the former, the later which is very crucial was not agreed as the new agree is virtually not binding. It guarantees nothing as far as climate Justice for vulnerable countries are concerned. The push continues for Climate justice and Rabat, Morocco provides another opportunity during the 2016 COP 22.

Sources BBC and The Guardian

Photo 1 by : Getty images

Photo 2 by: Reuters