U.S, Secretary of State John Kerry, with his granddaughter sitting on his knee, was joined by French President Francois Hollande and Canada’s Justin Trudeau, as he signed the Paris climate agreement.
“This is a moment in history,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said after announcing that a record 171 countries were prepared to sign the climate deal, reports ABC.net.au. “Today you are signing a new covenant with the future.”
China and the United States, the world’s largest producers of greenhouse gasses, pledged today to formally adopt the Paris deal to slow global warming by the end of this year. Together, the two countries account for 38 percent of global emissions.
“China will finalize domestic legal procedures on its accession before the G20 Hangzhou summit in September this year,” China’s Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli told the U.N. signing ceremony, reports Reuters.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States “looks forward to formally joining this agreement this year.” Using executive authority, President Barack Obama will formally adopt the agreement.
It is appropriate that the signing ceremony is being held on Earth Day, a day when the world takes the time to appreciate the Earth and bring awareness to environmental issues that we can do something about. That is what world leaders are doing today in New York, and the signing marks the first step in our keeping our promise to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
So what will happen after the deal is signed? The Paris climate agreement will go into effect as soon as 55 countries, representing 55 percent of greenhouse gas emitters ratifies the deal.
To date, 15 countries, mostly island states, have already fully approved the agreement and will formally present the completed ratification to the UN. In the European Union, the ratification process could take up to a year or more.
But once the appropriate number of countries have formally ratified the climate deal, it will go into effect. The target date for ratification has been set at 2020, but there is a good possibility it could be ratified as early as 2017. “We are in a race against time,” Mr. Ban told the gathering at the UN General Assembly.
“More countries have come together here to sign this agreement today than for any other cause in the history of humankind and that is a reason for hope,” said Leonardo DiCaprio, speaking at the formal signing today, reports Reuters. DiCaprio is an actor and U.N. peace messenger for climate change.
