COP21: Draft of Paris climate change deal agrees to 'pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C'

The draft text of the treaty acknowledges 'climate change is a common concern of humankind' and tackling it 'requires the widest possible cooperation by all countries'

Environmental activists in Paris celebrating the potential deal outside the Arc de Triomphe (Getty Images)

The draft text of the proposed Paris climate change agreement has laid out plans to hold "the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above preindustrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C".

The agreement - which was agreed in the early hours of Saturday morning - was announced to the delegates from 190 countries around the world and if ratified could be one of the most internationally significant climate change treaties ever signed.

The draft text acknowledges "climate change represents an urgent and potentially irreversible threat to human societies and the planet and thus requires the widest possible cooperation by all countries, and their participation in an effective and appropriate international response, with a view to accelerating the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions".

It recognised "deep reductions in global emissions will be required" in order to address climate change saying the issue was "the common concern of humankind".

The treaty aims to work with everyone affected by climate change - in particular developing countries - and says there is an "urgent need to enhance the provision of finance, technology and capacity" and promote "universal access to sustainable energy" - particularly in Africa - with a focus on renewables.

It also wanted to promote regional and international cooperation amongs governments and the private sector, civil society groups, financial institutions, regional and local governments and indigenous peoples.

The agreement has laid out a five year review system in which countries will draw up their own plans detailing how they will combat climate change which will be subject to review and they will continue to update these plans every five years.

Delegates now have a few hours to read through and review the deal before another meeting timetabled for 3:45pm in Paris (2:45pm GMT).

The draft deal draws on many individual national and UN pledges but it is current unclear whether it will be ratified at the meeting.

Many of the pledges demanded by a coalition of highly vulnerable countries - led by the Marshal Islands foreign minister Tony de Brum- have been included in the deal - such as the 1.5C target and the five year review.

But the agreement only commits to keeping the temperature "well below 2C" and only makes 1.5C - the temperature goal the islands say they need just to survive' - a target rather than a firm commitment.

Addressing the conference hall earlier on Saturday morning, French President Francois Hollande said: "It is rare in lifetime to have the chance to change the world. You have that chance. Take it so that our planet can live a long time, so we may live a long time."