Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina, in a statement, quoted Buhari as saying this while addressing the opening of the meeting on Taking Climate Action for Sustainable Development in NY, co-hosted by Nigeria and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as one of the Side Events of the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
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However it will only come into force when at least 55 nations, representing 55 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions, ratify it.
Bangladesh, one of the worst victims of climate change, has ratified the landmark Paris agreement on climate change with the foreign minister submitting instrument of ratification to the United Nations secretary-general.
That formal joining occurred early this month, on the sidelines of a G20 summit in China: President Obama took the step by executive order, angering congressional critics, while President Xi Jinping did so after consideration by his country’s rubberstamp legislature.
Yesterday, more than 20 countries officially ratified the Paris Agreement at the UN General Assembly ceremony.
The agreement includes a target to keep temperature rises below 2°C and strives to curb increases to 1.5°C.
As the one-hour session of the General Assembly progressed, 29 countries had joined the ratification of the agreements, including Mexico, Ukraine, and Argentina (which account for 1.7, 1.04, and 0.89 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions respectively). To take effect, the agreement must be ratified by sufficient countries to cover at least 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
During COP22 in Marrakech next November, a crucial question will be evoked: rich countries have pledged under the Paris deal to help poorer countries adapt to climate change and develop new clean energy technologies with $100 billion annually, but there is already resistance in several countries and diplomats fear that the promise will not be kept. Canada and Australia, two of the largest emitters, are also expected to join the agreements sometime along 2016. The global community is rallying behind swift and ambitious action to combat climate change.
Secretary of State John Kerry addresses a high-level event on the entry into force of the Paris climate agreement, at United Nations headquarters on Wednesday, September 21, 2016.
The Republican nominee’s claim generated an outburst from the American scientific community, where 375 scientists belonging to the National Academy of Sciences signed a letter addressed to Donald Trump, suggesting that “such a decision would make it far more hard to develop effective global strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate change”.
If on the other hand a President Trump entered the Oval Office before the accord entered into force, he would not be tied to that requirement and could withdraw the US immediately if he chose to do so.
It will mark a new era of global cooperation in building a safer, more resilient and prosperous world.
Vladimir Makei and Ban Ki-moon.
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“We’re seeing broad political support around the world for this agreement”. I commend this collective display of leadership.
