Scottish First Minister hails "historic" UN climate agreement

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon welcomed on Saturday a deal successfully reached at the UN climate change conference (COP21) in Paris.

Sturgeon said: "COP21 has, as we had hoped, achieved a big step forward in the international fight against climate change."

The agreement sets a new international context for nations' use of fossil fuels and action on climate change, including limiting global temperature rise to well below two degrees Celsius and pursuing efforts to limit the rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

"This historic agreement sends a signal of certainty about the global economy's low carbon future, in the same way as we did for Scotland through our world-leading climate legislation in 2009. We want to avoid the worst impacts of climate change falling on the poor and vulnerable," she noted, calling for further meaningful action.

"Devolved administrations, like the Scottish government, will be strong drivers of a progressive climate agenda. We look forward to working with our international partners to secure the successful implementation of the Paris agreement," she added.

By 2013, Scotland had cut emissions by 38 percent since 1990, much more than the 31 percent originally envisaged, while producing half its electricity demand from renewables, showed official statistics.

The Scottish government said it met energy target consumption seven years early with a 13 percent reduction, while Scotland is benefiting from 45,000 low carbon and environmental services jobs. Endit