International negotiators at the United Nations climate conference in Paris are reportedly close to adopting a landmark agreement aimed at combating global climate change.
The draft agreement is expected to be presented on December 12 by French President Francois Hollande and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Negotiators worked through the night to finalize the agreement after the conference was extended one day past its original December 11 closing date.
Officials did not reveal details of the agreement, which would be the first such accord on climate endorsed by virtually the entire international community. Some 190 countries are represented at the Paris talks. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol was only signed by leading industrial countries and was never approved by the United States.
Chinese envoy Liu Zhenmin was quoted as saying that he was "quite confident" an agreement would be reached. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius also said he was "sure" the conference would succeed.
