The treaty needed to be ratified by a minimum number of parties contributing at least 55 per cent of global emissions
The final hurdle to make the Paris Climate Agreement operational cleared on Tuesday (Ocotber 4) when the political process for the European Union to ratify the Agreement was concluded. The European Parliament backed the ratification of the Paris climate deal, hence paving the way for world's first global agreement that aims to limit greenhouse gas emissions and keep global temperature increases below 2 °C.
The Paris climate pact is now set to come into force globally as early as November.
The ratification was approved with 610 votes in favour, 38 against and with 31 abstentions. After Tuesday’s vote, which was attended by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, national ministers can now ratify the agreement on behalf of the EU later this week.
In order to become operational, the treaty needed to be ratified by a minimum number of parties contributing at least 55 per cent of global emissions. The development came on the heels of India, which emits 4 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas, ratifying the deal on October 2.
The climate deal requires approval at both EU and national level, but in order to fast-track the process, the EU environment ministers on September 30 agreed to ratify the deal at the EU level, even without votes in some national parliaments. Seven member states—France, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Portugal and Malta—have already completed their ratification procedure and will submit their formal documents to the United Nations.
Although the Paris Agreement has set an aim for a maximum rise in global temperatures of 1.5°C, scientists have warned that action has been delayed for so long that the world now needs to develop ways of sucking CO2 out of the air.
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The EU environment ministers on September 30 agreed to ratify the deal at the EU level, even without votes in some national parliaments. Credit: Trocaire/ Flicker.png)
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