COP21: World and business leaders celebrate global climate deal

After a two week period of negotiations in Paris, delegates from nearly 200 nations, including world and business leaders celebrated the new global climate deal. Barack Obama called the climate deal a "turning point" and Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank, said he could hardly believe it had happened, and that he was "in a bit of a shock, a happy shock." Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Minister, hailed the deal, explaining the "outcome of Paris agreement has no winners or losers. Climate justice has won and we are all working towards a greener future." Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General adding "the Paris agreement demonstrates solidarity" and Francois Hollande, French President, "France will put everything in place to implement the agreement." Meanwhile, business leaders including Stuart Gulliver, CEO of HSBC, welcomed the Paris deal as an "historic milestone on the road to a more sustainable global economy," and Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, praised the agreement as "an unequivocal signal to the business and financial communities." Although many environmental groups were positive about the deal, others expressed doubt that the deal will not be enough to limit global warming to "well below" 2C.

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Among world leaders none was more gratified by the weekend’s agreement than President Barack Obama, who made the clinching of a global climate deal and reversing America’s once laggardly stance a priority of his second term in office.

Barely was the ink dry in Paris before Mr Obama reminded Americans of his activism, pursued in the face of Republican recalcitrance. “We’ve transformed the United States into the global leader in fighting climate change,” he declared. “We came together around the strong agreement the world needed. We met the moment.”

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The deal, which Mr Obama called a “turning point”, promises to become a major part of the president’s legacy. However, Republicans in Washington were already warning that it could be torn up if any of their candidates wins back the White House in 2016.

“The President is making promises he can’t keep, writing cheques he can’t cash, and stepping over the middle class to take credit for an ‘agreement’ that is subject to being shredded in 13 months,” sniped Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader of the US Senate.

Mr McConnell was echoing the opposition of many in his party to Mr Obama’s executive order earlier this year to force power plants across the country to slash emissions. That was central to American preparations for Paris, as was a bilateral emissions reduction agreement struck by Mr Obama last year with President Xi Jinping of China.

Paris climate talks in pictures Show all 12 1 / 12 Paris climate talks in pictures Paris climate talks in pictures A man is covered with a multi-coloured banner with the message, "Climate" as environmentalists attend a demonstration near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, during the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) that meets in Le Bourget, December 12, 2015 Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures French President Francois Hollande (C) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) applaud after a statement at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures US Secretary of State John Kerry (C) speaks with China's Special Representative on Climate Change Xie Zhenhua (R) and officials at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Delegates and members of NGO's read and work on copies of 'The adoption of the Paris agreement' is pictured after the announcement of the final draft by French Foreign Affairs minister Laurent Fabius at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning Getty Paris climate talks in pictures UN climate chief Christiana Figueres (C) speaks with French President Francois Hollande (L), United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (2ndL) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) after a statement at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning Getty Paris climate talks in pictures A Swiss Dominican priest poses with activists dressed as polar bears as activists gather for a demonstration to form a giant red line at the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Activists hold up a giant banner reading 'Climate justice' by association 'ourpowercampaign' during a demonstration near the Arc de Triomphe at the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Representatives of indigenous peoples demonstrate in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Environmentalists demonstrate near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Environmentalists demonstrate near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Activists form a giant red line during a demonstration on the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris ALAIN JOCARD/AFP/Getty Images Paris climate talks in pictures The slogan "No Plan B" is projected on the Eiffel Tower as part of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) in Paris, France, December 11, 2015. Reuters

The Paris accord almost became unstitched on Saturday, when US negotiators spotted a sentence saying wealthier nations “shall” set economy-wide targets to cut emissions, which would have made it legally binding. That would have obliged the White House to send the deal to the US Congress for approval, which Republicans would surely have blocked. “Shall” was replaced by “should”.

John Kerry, the Secretary of State who had led the US team in the last laps of the talks, told reporters that without that amendment the US could not have signed. He played down the risk of Republicans undoing what had been achieved.

Donald Trump: ‘I can’t wash my hair … It’s a disaster!’ (Getty)

“This has to happen,” he said. “I believe this will continue, because I just personally cannot believe that any person who doesn’t understand the science and isn’t prepared to do for the next generation what we did here today ... cannot and will not be elected president of the United States.”

In his response to the deal, the president of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, implied he could hardly believe it had happened, saying he was “in a bit of a shock, a happy shock”. He added, though, that implementation would be “hugely challenging”.

Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, applauded the deal, saying it marked “the first time that the entire world community has obligated itself to act – to act in the battle against global climate change”. Pope Francis, who has made environmental activism a centrepiece of his papacy, said “implementation requires concerted effort and generous dedication on the part of everyone”.

Donald Trump discussed environmental regulation in his own way, grousing about obligatory flow limiters in bathrooms and the trouble it causes him looking after his very particular hair. “You have sinks where the water doesn’t come out. You have showers where I can’t wash my hair properly, it’s a disaster!” Mr Trump told supporters in South Carolina.