U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he is confident of reaching the magic number before the next United Nations climate conference, which starts November 7 in Marrakech, Morocco. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has been at the forefront of keeping up the political momentum by reaching out to world leaders to formally join the Paris Agreement.
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Mattlan Zackhras, a senior official from the Marshall Islands, warned that despite pledges under the Paris accord the planet still looked on track for a rise of three degrees.
I am heartened by the tremendous support for bringing the Paris Agreement into force this year.
The United Nations took a big step toward entering the Paris climate change agreement into force Wednesday when 31 countries submitted ratification paperwork.
BRUNEI Darussalam yesterday formally joined the Paris Agreement on fighting climate change and called for cooperation and hard work from all relevant stakeholders in order for the country to abide by the commitments under the accord. Besides EU, the countries that announced their commitment to join the Agreement in 2016 included Austria, Australia, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, France, Germany, Hungary, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Poland, and the Republic of Korea.
However it will only come into force when at least 55 nations, representing 55 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions, ratify it. Sixty have done so but together they only represent 47.5% of global emissions, falling short of the deal’s 55% target. Signed by the 197 countries of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the agreement was approved by Brazilian congress last August. “I appeal to all leaders to accelerate domestic arrangements to join this year”. “It was one that took decades to achieve, but the feeling of satisfaction that comes with that milestone is tempered by the knowledge that… the problem that we confronted and continue to confront was growing worse”. 2016 is shaping up to be the hottest year ever recorded on Earth, which is disturbing enough on its own, but it’s following a trend. According to NOAA, that streak is unprecedented in its 137 years of temperature observations. “High temperatures are already having consequences, people are dying in the heat, people lack water, we already have climate refugees”.
She said: “We will continue to play our part in the worldwide effort against climate change”. Now, the number of parties who have ratified the agreement has crossed the “55 nations” threshold which is one of two key thresholds required for the text to come into force.
“The need is urgent”, he said. But, The Times reports that if the Paris Agreement comes into legal force before the presidential inauguration, it would take four years for any USA president to legally withdraw from the deal under the accord’s rules.
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The Prime Minister told the gathering of world leaders in NY that the United Kingdom remained a “confident, strong and dependable partner internationally”. Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar said that Morocco was “strongly committed” to putting the Paris accord in force in time for the meeting.
