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Closing remarks on Entry into Force of the Paris Agreement

But the agreement hasnt actually taken effect yet, because that requires an extra bureaucratic step — one that sometimes takes years to complete.

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Thirty-one more countries joined the Paris climate agreement on Wednesday, bringing the total to 60 countries as the agreement moves toward entering into force.

The Paris agreement needs ratification from 55 countries that account for at least 55 per cent of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change.

While the two biggest polluters – China and United States of America – had joined the Agreement early this month, the third biggest polluter India, accounting for 4.1% of the global emission, is expected to ratify it sometime next year.

Barchue indicated that “under my gavel, every global protocol and agreement will be signed to ensure the country is part of the comity of nations”.

Now, the chorus of agreement has grown much stronger.

Taken together, these commitments, added to the 60 countries that have now formally joined the agreement, will put us past the threshold of 55 per cent of global emissions.

“The remarkable support for this agreement reflects the urgency and the magnitude of this challenge”, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the Wednesday event.

Now, this means we will cross the final barrier for entry into force of the Paris Agreement. This indicator now approximates to 48%, primarily due to the ratification by China and the United States.

Meaning, if we finish ratifying it soon, President Trump can blow hot air all day, and he still won’t be able to doom future generations to catastrophic sea level rise.

“Ive spent nearly 60 years studying these issues — that tells me that society ought to at least listen to my opinions as much as Donald Trumps, ” Ehrlich said.

Chinese chairman of the national development and reform commission Xu Shaoshi, left, shakes hands with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during a ceremony to mark more signatories to the Paris climate accords at U.N. headquarters, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016.

“We are ready. We will announce it in New York”, Moroccan Environment Minister Hakima el-Haite told The Associated Press.

The possibility that a Trump presidency could trounce emerging global cooperation on climate change is worrying leaders, whose nations are being forced to confront the realities of a warming world.

Secretary of State John Kerry said that the United States “shared our part of the blame” for the years of difficulty in securing global action on climate change. “The Paris Agreement gives us a framework to act, but only if we scale up our ambition”, he stated.

The agreement aims to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees C compared to pre-industrial times. The Paris Agreement is very likely to enter into force this year, marking a huge milestone in worldwide efforts to address climate change.

More than 170 world leaders have signed the deal. “High temperatures are already having consequences, people are dying in the heat, people lack water, we already have climate refugees”.

Evan Juska, Head of US Policy, The Climate Group, said: “In a “bottom up” climate regime, it’s critical that subnational governments share knowledge about which solutions are working the best”.

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A group of 375 scientists, including renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, has injected itself into the 2016 US presidential election with an open letter about climate change.

Scientists urge Trump to support Paris climate accord