World countries agree to extend efforts of Kyoto Protocol

An agreement reached Sunday in South Africa will help tackle the challenges of climate change for years to come, CNN cites the United Nations' secretary general as saying.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed the decision reached by parties of the Climate Change Convention in Durban, South Africa, which agreed to extend efforts set forth in the Kyoto Protocol.

The Kyoto Protocol, ratified by 37 industrialized countries, was set to expire in 2012. It mandates that industrialized nations cut their greenhouse gas emissions.

Ban "welcomes the agreement to establish a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol that will increase certainty for the carbon market and provides additional incentives for new investments in technology and the infrastructure necessary to fight climate change," according to a statement from his office.