Royal accepted the appointment from President Francois Hollande and will hold the COP21 presidency until the next annual international meeting.
A political deadlock in Paris over who should head up the implentation of the historic climate change deal agreed at the COP21 talks in December with the appointment of French Environment Minister Segolene Royal Wednesday.
The announcement follows Laurent Fabius' resignation as foreign minister and consequently to his position as president of the U.N.'s climate forum.
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Royal accepted the appointment to replace Fabius from President Francois Hollande. She will hold the COP21 presidency until the next annual international meeting on global warming in Marrakech in Morocco.
According to France 24, Fabius “drew flak” in the French political arena for seeking to hold onto two high-profile jobs at the same time; he was expected to lead the climate talks until November.
Royal said she will seek to implement the global deal reached last year to shift away from fossil fuels and acknowledged the important role played by her successor in the so-called historic climate agreement under which the 195 U.N. members pledged to curb greenhouse-gas emissions and strive to keep global warming to under 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels.
"I welcome the positive opinion given ... democratizing environmental dialogue, effective and fruitful work."
The new COP21 president is Hollande's former companion and long considered a rival to Fabius. The post she will take from now is unpaid and voluntary. The COP is the supreme decision-making body of the UNFCCC, which convenes at ministerial level once a year.
The Paris Agreement is also meant to bring hundreds of billions of dollars in aid to developing countries that are most exposed and vulnerable to climate change. However, environmental activists have many doubts about its effectiveness.
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