Historic Paris climate deal sealed, aims well below 2°C limit

LE BOURGET: A landmark climate change deal was tonignt clinched with the approval of India, China and the US, after days of tough negotiations here with the legally-binding pact seeking to limit global warming to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius and committing USD 100 billion a year from 2020 to help developing nations.

The target of well below 2 degrees Celsius and even more ambitious 1.5 degrees Celsius was originally expected not to be to the liking of developing countries like India and China who are major emitters on account of industrialisation but Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar was effusive in his welcome of the 31-page document.

Amidst cheers and applause from delegates from 195 countries, the draft of the "historic" deal was presented by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and French President Francois Hollande appealed to the gathering to approve the accord.