Paris climate deal: nearly 200 nations sign in end of fossil fuel era

Two decades of talks have come to this: an ambitious agreement to hold states to emissions targets - but already low-lying countries are worried

Governments have signalled an end to the fossil fuel era, committing for the first time to a universal agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions and to avoid the most dangerous effects of climate change.

After 20 years of fraught meetings, including the past two weeks spent in an exhibition hall on the outskirts of Paris, negotiators from nearly 200 countries signed on to a legal agreement on Saturday evening that set ambitious goals to limit temperature rises and to hold governments to account for reaching those targets.