U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomes commitments by South Korea and China to curb greenhouse gas emissions, his spokesman said Tuesday.
  

Earlier in the day, South Korea offered to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 37 percent by 2030 from 850.6 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, an amount Seoul says it would reach if it let business run as usual.
  

China also committed to halting the rise in its greenhouse gas emissions within the next 15 years.
  

Seoul and Beijing formally submitted the goals to the U.N.
  

"Both submissions represent an important contribution to building momentum and strengthening prospects for reaching a new and meaningful climate change agreement at COP-21 in Paris at the end of the year," the spokesman said in a statement. COP-21 is a U.N. conference set to begin Nov. 30.
  

Ban also expressed thanks to South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Chinese President Xi Jinping for "their leadership and strong commitment in addressing climate change," the spokesman said. (Yonhap)