Paris
climate deal: countries with about half of global emissions to join
this year
At
least 34 countries representing 49% of greenhouse gas emissions
formally joined the agreement, bringing it ‘within striking
distance’ of entering into force
Suzanne
Goldenberg
Monday
25 April 2016 22.21 BST
The White House has
said countries accounting for about half of the world’s greenhouse
gas emissions would join the Paris climate agreement this year,
bringing the agreement “within striking distance” of entering
into force.
At least 34
countries representing 49% of greenhouse gas emissions formally
joined the agreement, or committed to joining the agreement as early
as possible this year at a high-profile signing ceremony at the
United Nations last Friday.
That brought the
historic agreement closer to the critical threshold for becoming
operational faster than expected, officials said.
“The progress that
[was] made in only hours and days after the agreement was formally
opened for signing now puts us within striking distance of entering
into force years earlier than anyone would have anticipated,” Brian
Deese, a White House adviser, told a conference call with reporters.
The gathering at the
UN made other advances towards dealing with climate change, the White
House said.
The World Bank,
along with countries such as Canada and Mexico, earlier this month
endorsed setting a price on carbon.
But economists and
scientists say governments are still moving too slowly to map out a
long-term future free of coal, oil, and gas – even as rising
temperatures and melting polar ice unleashes havoc in real-time.
About 175
governments took a first step of signing onto the deal on Friday. The
action, though entirely symbolic, had maintained important momentum
since the Paris climate meeting last December, the White House said.
China, which on its
own accounts for about 20% of global emissions, told the UN it would
finalise domestic procedures to join the agreement before the G20
meeting in September. Other industrialised countries offered similar
pledges to submit the agreement for approval to parliament.
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The agreement
reached in Paris seeks to avoid catastrophic climate change by
limiting warming to 1.5C to 2C. Governments committed to replacing
fossil fuels almost entirely by clean energy in the second half of
this century.
But first the deal
must become operational – a threshold required the formal approval
of 55 countries accounting for 55% of global emissions.
By the UN’s count,
the Paris climate deal was already very close. At least 15 countries
formally joined the agreement on Friday. They included mainly small
island countries at risk of drowning in rising seas, but also
Palestine and Somalia.
The White House said
the count was now up to 34 for countries that have formally joined
the agreement, or were committed to joining this year.
Together, they
represent about 49% of global greenhouse gas emissions, Deese said.
The White House has
been an important cheerleader for the global agreement – despite
legal challenges and opposition from Republicans in Congress and the
party’s presidential candidates to its efforts to cut climate
pollution from power plants – Barack Obama’s signature climate
plan.
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