Climate talks: 2 degrees Celsius global warming limit

French President Francois Hollande has called on nearly 200 nations to adopt "the first universal agreement on climate."

Hollande told delegates at the Paris conference on Saturday that the deal would be "unprecedented" in the history of international climate talks.

On the brink of tears after presiding over the talks, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius delivered the proposal to ministers who must now decide whether to approve it, possibly within hours.

"It is my conviction that we have come up with an ambitious... agreement," Fabius said, telling the ministers they would achieve a "historic turning point" for the world if they endorsed it.

According to Fabius, the "fair, lasting, dynamic, balanced, and legally binding" accord aims to limit the rise in global temperatures by the year 2100 to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) since the industrial revolution, and "endeavor to limit" them even more, to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

That was a key demand of small island nations and other poor and vulnerable countries ravaged by the effects of climate change and rising sea levels.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon told the envoys to "finish the job" on the climate pact.

The time has come to acknowledge that national interests are best served by acting in the international interest. - Ban Ki-moon

"The whole world is watching. Billions of people are relying on your wisdom," he said.

"The time has come to acknowledge that national interests are best served by acting in the international interest," the UN chief added.

"We have to do as science dictates. We must protect the planet that sustains us. We need all our hands on deck."

US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed optimism on Saturday that the latest proposed text of the UN climate deal would be approved by the nations meeting in Paris.

John Schellnhuber, a top climate scientist who was critical of draft negotiation texts, praised the final draft as being consistent with science.

"If agreed and implemented, this means bringing down greenhouse-gas emissions to net zero within a few decades," said Schellnhuber, who heads Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Research.

According to the scientist, the accord presented on Saturday "is in line with the scientific evidence we presented of what would have to be done to limit climate risks such as weather extremes and sea-level rise".

"To stabilize our climate, CO2 emissions have to peak well before 2030 and should be eliminated as soon as possible after 2050," he added.

"Governments can indeed write history today, so future generations will remember the Paris summit for centuries to come."

A blow to the fossil fuel industry

Greenpeace and other prominent environment groups said that the accord would deal a big blow to the fossil fuel industry.

"The wheel of climate action turns slowly, but in Paris it has turned. This deal puts the fossil fuel industry on the wrong side of history," Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo said.

The final proposed UN climate accord would require all countries to take steps to reduce emissions and help each other cope with climate change.

The last draft accord, released on Thursday night, did not resolve several key issues, including how rich and developing countries would share the burden in fighting global warming.

Anticipation had been building up in the conference center outside Paris after two weeks of talks, culminating a four-year effort to produce the first international pact asking all countries to limit their greenhouse gas emissions.

Meanwhile, several environmental and human rights groups are planning protests around Paris on Saturday to call attention to populations threatened by man-made global warming and urge an end to human use of oil, gas and coal.

The last big climate protests in Paris, on the eve of the talks on 29 November, ended in tear gas and more than 100 arrests, as some activists defied a ban on demonstrations.

The ban was linked to France's state of emergency, put in place because of Islamic extremist attacks a month ago.

Organizers say their main demonstration on Saturday, near the Eiffel Tower, has been authorized by Paris police.