The Paris Agreement on climate change is expected to enter into force in 30 days after it crossed “the second and final threshold” needed for it to take effect, the United Nations announced.
“Today, we expect the Paris Agreement on climate change to have crossed the second and final threshold needed for it to enter into force,” Xinhua news agency quoted deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq as saying on Wednesday at a daily news briefing.
According to the website of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Paris deal has been ratified by 72 countries, accounting for more than 56 per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissions.
“On October 5, 2016, the threshold for entry into force of the Paris Agreement has been achieved,” the UN website said.
The deal takes effect 30 days after 55 countries, accounting for at least 55 per cent of global emissions, have adopted it.
“The secretary-general is encouraged by the tremendous positive support from a broad coalition of countries — from the largest emitters to the small island developing states — to bring the Paris Agreement to life as soon as possible,” Haq said.
He added that the UN will announce the names of those Parties that have deposited their ratification instruments by the end of the day.
The much-anticipated Paris Agreement is the third international document on addressing climate change, following the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
US President Barack Obama on Wednesday hailed the UN announcement that the Paris Agreement will enter into force in 30 days, calling it a “historic day” in the fight against climate change.
“If we follow through on the commitments that this Paris Agreement embodies, history may well judge it as a turning point for our planet,” Obama said in remarks at the White House.
Obama noted that the Paris Agreement alone will not solve the climate crisis.
“Even if we meet every target embodied in the agreement, we’ll only get to part of where we need to go,” he said. “But make no mistake, this agreement will help delay or avoid some of the worst consequences of climate change.”
Obama said the agreement will help other nations ratchet down their carbon emissions over time and also “opens up the floodgates for businesses and scientists and engineers to unleash high-tech, low-carbon investment and innovation at a scale that we’ve never seen before.”
“So this gives us the best possible shot to save the one planet we’ve got,” he said.
Early on Wednesday, the United Nations announced the Paris Agreement is expected to enter into force in 30 days after it crossed “the second and final threshold” needed for it to take effect.
According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 72 countries including China and the United States have formally ratified the landmark climate deal.
IANS