Ban hails outcome of UN climate conference

UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Saturday welcomed the outcome of the UN climate conference in Doha, capital of Qatar, and called for more international efforts to limit the global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius.

That was learned from a statement issued here by Ban's spokesman.

"The secretary-general welcomes the outcome of the UN Climate Change Conference that concluded today in Doha and he congratulates Qatar for a job well done in hosting the Conference, " said the statement. "Doha successfully concluded the previous round of climate negotiations, paving the way to a comprehensive, legally binding agreement by 2015."

The United Nations climate talks in Doha on Saturday adopted a package of drafts for the low-ambitious second period of Kyoto Protocol and weak commitments on climate finance after overnight negotiations on differences between developed and developing countries.

The closure of the two-week meeting in the Qatari capital was delayed for almost a whole day as diplomats from more than 190 countries pressed for any small progress that can be reached.

The new agreement will apply from 2013 till 2020.