United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will host a Sept. 21 special event at U.N. headquarters in New York to present nations an opportunity to deposit their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval, or accession to the Paris Agreement on climate change. “I urge you to accelerate your country’s domestic process for ratification of the Agreement this year,” Ki-moon wrote in a letter to world leaders.
The Paris Agreement, adopted in December by nearly 200 nations during the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, will enter into force 30 days after at least 55 nations accounting for at least 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions submit their instruments of ratification with the U.N.
There has been a push to bring the agreement into force this year, with the United States, China, Canada, and several other nations committing to ratifying the accord before the close of 2016.
Currently, 19 nations representing .18 percent of global emissions have ratified the agreement. The inclusion of China, the world’s top emitter representing 20.09 percent of global emissions, and the U.S. , the world’s second highest emitter representing 17.89 percent, would significantly move the dial.
“I would … like to congratulate the UN Secretary-General for his leadership in organizing this special event in September for ratification. It will provide a focus and an opportunity for many more nations to step forward so that early entry into force of the agreement can occur sooner rather than later,” Patricia Espinosa, the incoming executive secretary of the UNFCCC, said in a release.
