Ratification
of the Paris Climate Change Agreement by China and the United States –
the world’s top two emitters of greenhouse gases – has brought its rapid
entry into force a big step closer.
Details in the " UNFCCC Press Release"
UN Climate Chief Thanks Countries for Ratification
The Two Countries Also Announce Support for Increased Action on Aviation and Refrigerant Emissions
Bonn, Sept 3 2016 --
Ratification
of the Paris Climate Change Agreement by China and the United States –
the world’s top two emitters of greenhouse gases – has brought its rapid
entry into force a big step closer.
“I
would like today to thank China and the United States for ratifying
this landmark agreement—an agreement on which rests the opportunity for a
sustainable future for every nation and every person,” said
Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
“The earlier that Paris is ratified and implemented in full, the more secure that future will become, “she added.
The
Paris Agreement enters into force on the 30th day after the date on
which at least 55 Parties to the Convention accounting in total for at
least an estimated 55 % of total global emissions have deposited
their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession
with the UN Depositary, in New York.
Today’s
announcement by President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping, in
which both countries have announced they have deposited their
instruments of ratification with the UN Secretary-General, puts the
balance at just over 39 percent of the global total, based on the
information from countries provided to the UN in accordance with the
decision related to entry into force of the Paris Agreement.
“Bringing
the Paris Agreement into force underlines that the momentum and
international solidarity witnessed in 2015 continues into 2016 among big
and small nations and among rich and poorer countries,” said
Ms Espinosa.
“The
UN Secretary General’s special event in New York on 21 September offers
a further, focused opportunity for others to join this wave of ambition
and optimism towards a better and sustainable world,” she
added.
HFCs and Aviation
China
and the United States also announced today that they were working
together to secure a comprehensive and ambitious amendment of a sister
treaty—the Montreal Protocol—when governments meet in Kigali,
Rwanda in October.
The
amendment is aimed at managing down the use of chemicals called
Hydroflurocarbons (HFCs) that are now being used in refrigeration
systems such as air conditioners and which are potent greenhouse gases
in their own right.
The
two countries said they wanted to secure not only an
internationally-agreed phase-down of HFCs but an early ‘freeze’ date so
that the phase-down starts sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile
the United States and Chinese leaders also announced backing for action
on aviation emissions under the International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO) at its meeting later this month.
Under
ICAO, governments will decide whether to agree a market-based mechanism
that can assist in encouraging aircraft operators to bring down
greenhouse gases from planes.
China and the United States said today that they plan
to be early participants in a voluntary pilot phase if the decision goes
through at the ICAO conference.
“I
would like to commend China and the US for these two additional
announcements. While the Paris Agreement is the main vehicle for action
on climate change, it is clear that all international agreements need
to work in tandem in order to realize our shared goals and aims,” she
said.
The new announcements by China and the United States
come in advance of the G20 Summit and the next round of UN climate
negotiations—known as COP22—to be held in Marrakech, Morocco in
November.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon invited leaders from all countries to New York to deposit their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. The event also provides an opportunity to any country to publicly commit to do so.
In
his invitation, Mr Ban said: “The next step in our collective journey
to a low-carbon, climate-resilient future is to ensure the rapid entry
into force of the Paris Agreement.”
The
objective of the Paris Agreement is to limit global warming well below
2°C and as close to 1.5°C as possible, to increase economic and social
ability to adapt to extreme climate, and to direct the scale
and speed of global financial flows to match the required path to very
low-emission, climate-resilient development.
Along with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, Paris forms part
of a new and universal vision for a sustainable future around which the
global community
converged in 2015.
The
unity of common purpose captured across these three agreements will now
need to leverage an unprecedented scale and depth of national and
international cooperative action involving all actors at all levels
and in all regions of the world.
Notes to Editors
See more information on the Paris Agreement on the UNFCCC website:
http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9485.php
See information on the status of ratification of the Paris Agreement http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9444.php
See the COP22 host government website:
http://www.cop22.ma/en
UNFCCC Media contactsNick Nuttall, UNFCCC Spokesperson | nnuttall@unfccc.int | Mobile: +49 152 0168 4831
Press office: press@unfccc.int
About the UNFCCC
With
197 Parties, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) has near universal membership and is the parent treaty of the
2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement. The main aim of the Paris
Agreement is to keep a global average temperature rise this century
well below 2 degrees Celsius and to drive efforts to limit the
temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius above
pre-industrial levels. The UNFCCC is also the parent treaty of
the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The ultimate objective of all agreements under
the UNFCCC is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the
atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference
with the climate system, in a time frame which allows
ecosystems to adapt naturally and enables sustainable development.
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