(VOVworld) – The 20^th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 20) concluded in Lima, Peru, on Sunday with an adoption of a framework agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Under the agreement, 190 countries joining the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change have to approve national plans to diminish greenhouse gas emissions until an informal deadline of March 31^st, 2015, and UN members have to submit a report on November 1^st, 2015, to assess their efforts to keep the average temperature below 2 Degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level. COP 20 is the last conference before the deadline set for countries to sign a new climate change agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which will expire by 2020.

Secretary-General ban Ki-moon addresses the UN Climate Change Conference in Lima, Peru.. (Photo: UN/Mark Garten)

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed the outcome of the conference, praising delegates for setting the groundwork for a more conclusive agreement to be reached in 2015. In a statement released on Sunday, Ban said that the decisions adopted in Lima pave the way for the adoption of a universal and meaningful agreement in 2015. The Secretary-General called on all parties, especially the world’s major economies, to submit their “ambitious national commitments well in advance of Paris”.