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Climate accord: leaders’ quotes

From business leaders to politicians, world figures react to news that climate negotiators in Paris have approved a breakthrough accord that will for the first time unite rich and poor nations in combating climate change.

bishop

Bishop: “A pivotal moment”.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop: “Our work here is done and now we can return home to implement this historic agreement. This is a pivotal moment”.

“No country would see this as the perfect outcome. Certainly it does not include everything that we envisaged. However, this agreement does give us a strategy to work over coming years and decade to build the strong and effective action the world needs”.

Professor Tim Flannery, Climate Council: “We have witnessed something incredible today. Finally, we can feel hopeful that we are on a path to tackling climate change”.

“This is a watershed moment. All countries have acknowledged they have to act, and almost all are already doing so”.

US president Barack Obama: “Today the American people can be proud because this historic agreement is a tribute to American leadership”.

“Over the past seven years, we’ve transformed the United States into the global leader in fighting climate change”.

Barack Obama

Obama: Americans can be “proud”.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker: “Today the world is united in the fight against climate change. Today the world gets a lifeline, a last chance to hand over to future generations a world that is more stable, a healthier planet, fairer societies and more prosperous economies”.

“This robust agreement will steer the world towards a global clean energy transition”.

US secretary of state John Kerry: “This is a tremendous victory for all of our citizens, not for any one country, or any one bloc, but for everybody here who has worked so hard to bring this across the finish line. It is a victory for all of the planet and for future generations”.

“We have set a course here. The world has come together around an agreement that will empower us to chart a new path for our planet, a smart and responsible path, a sustainable path”.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde: “Governments must now put words into actions, in particular by implementing policies that make effective progress on the mitigation pledges they have made”.

“That is why my key message is to price carbon right and to do it now”.

World Bank Group president Jim Yong Kim“We welcome the historic agreement that has just been reached in Paris. The world has come together to forge a deal that finally reflects the aspiration, and the seriousness, to preserve our planet for future generations”.

“We called for strong ambition, for remarkable partnerships, for mobilization of finance, and for implementation of national climate plans. Paris delivered. Now the job becomes our shared responsibility”.

Indian Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar:

Prakash: “A new chapter of hope”.

 “We have opened a new chapter of hope in the lives of 7 billion people on the planet. We have [the planet] on loan from future generations”.

“We have today reassured these future generations that we will all together give them a better earth”.

Paul Polman, chief executive of Unilever: “Today’s agreement demonstrates without question that it is possible for us to come together in common cause to address the greatest challenges we face, preventing tragedy for the many millions of people vulnerable to the effects of climate change and securing the economic prosperity of the world in the 21st century”.

“The result is an unequivocal signal to the business and financial communities, one that will drive real change in the real economy. The billions of dollars pledged by developed countries will be matched with the trillions of dollars that will flow to low carbon investment”.

 

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