The agreement is due to enter into force in 2020.
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Forests bind carbon dioxide and form part of the backbone of the climate deal.
“Should the current path of global warming remain unchanged, the prospects of human life are so awful that to evoke them would be to describe the nightmares of mass hunger, massive population displacement, increased violence and conflict”, he said at the All Ireland-US Sister Cities Summit.
French President Francois Hollande and Canada’s Justin Trudeau joined US Secretary of State John Kerry for the largest ever one-day signing of an global agreement. “The urgency of this challenge is only becoming more pronounced”, he said, “and this is why our gathering today is, in fact, historic”. Other agreements, such as the Kyoto Protocol, were held up in the past because of the various procedures and internal politics involved in the ratification process in each country.
The Paris agreement will come into force as soon as 55 countries responsible for 55 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases have ratified the accord.
The Paris climate agreement will enter into force on 30th day after it will be ratified by at least 55 countries, which account for at least 55% of greenhouse gas emissions together.
The Climate Change Performance Index ranks 58 countries, and says NZ has dropped from 35th place previous year to 42nd this time around.
Among those will be leaders of island states such as Fiji, Tuvalu and Kiribati that face oblivion from rising sea levels. Global average temperatures have already climbed by nearly 1°C.
Scientists said the monthly global temperature record has kept being broken over the past 11 months, and that 2015 has become the planet’s warmest year since the late 19th century.
A clause in the treaty means it would take four years if a new leader, not committed to tackling climate change, wanted to take the U.S. out of the agreement. A separate analysis by Climate Action Tracker, a European group, projected warming of 2.7°C.
The actor, who this year won his first Oscar for his portrayal of a frontiersman in “The Revenant”, spoke in his role as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s “messenger of peace with a special focus on climate change”.
The climate deal with the United States and 160 other nations was reached in December previous year. But hard work still lies ahead.
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Yesterday was chosen for the signing ceremony because it was Earth Day.
