"This agreement sent a powerful signal to the world that we have removed the stain of Seattle," Robert B. Zoellick, the United States trade representative, told delegates as the meeting concluded.
But John Weisheit, conservation director for Living Rivers, a Utah-based environmental group, said the agreement sends the message to the states that growth trumps sensible water management.
"The cuts promised by countries are still insufficient, but the agreement sends a strong message to business, investors and cities that fossil fuels belong to the past," said Corinne Le Quere, director of the UK's Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.
At a press conference inside the U.S. Treasury, IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson said the agreement "sends a strong message to those promoting and using abusive tax avoidance transactions.
Bob Zoellick, the World Bank president, said the agreement sent out a message: "steal from one of us, and you will be punished by all".
In June, however, the Florida Supreme Court rejected the agreement, sending the case back for a full trial, which could result in Judge McMillan's outright removal.
Michael Jacobs, senior adviser for the New Climate Economy project, says the long-term goals in the agreement send investors the clearest sign "that the world was on an irreversible and irrevocable downward trend in emissions".
"This universal and ambitious agreement sends a clear signal to governments, businesses, and investors everywhere: the transformation of our global economy from one fuelled by dirty energy to one fuelled by sustainable economic growth is now firmly and inevitably underway," Gore said in a statement.
"This universal and ambitious agreement sends a clear signal to governments, businesses, and investors everywhere: the transformation of our global economy from one fuelled by dirty energy to one fuelled by sustainable economic growth is now firmly and inevitably under way," the former senator said in a statement.
