China, US agree to ratify Paris emissions accord
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CHINA and the United States have ratified the Paris agreement on cutting climate-warming emissions, marking a major step toward the enactment of the pact as early as the end of the year and setting the stage for other countries to follow suit.
The world’s two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases made the landmark announcement on Saturday as heads of state from the Group of 20 biggest economies arrived for a summit in the eastern city of Hangzhou.
“Just as I believe the Paris agreement will ultimately prove to be a turning point for our planet, I believe that history will judge today’s efforts as pivotal,” US President Barack Obama said after he and Chinese President Xi Jinping handed ratified documents to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
“We have a saying in America that you need to put your money where your mouth is. And when it comes to combating climate change, that’s what we’re doing. Both the United States and China, we’re leading by example,” Obama said.
At a joint ceremony, Xi said it “speaks to the shared ambition and resolve of China and the United States in addressing global issues.”
French President Francois Hollande said it was an important step that would pave the way for the implementation of the Paris agreement at the end of the year.
Yesterday, Ban praised both countries for the move and called for accelerated efforts from others to join the ambitious pact.
“With China and the United States making this historic step, we now have 26 parties in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Convention and 39 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions accounted for,” Ban said at a press conference on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
Although the Paris deal was signed in the French capital in December, it will come into force only after at least 55 countries accounting for at least 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions join the accord.
Ban urged other leaders to show leadership by accelerating their domestic ratification processes, “so we can turn the aspiration of Paris into the transformative climate actions the world so urgently needs.”
The accord signed in Paris aims to limit global temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius, and 1.5 degrees if possible, compared with pre-industrial levels.
The US and China are together responsible for some 40 percent of the world’s emissions, so their participation is crucial.
China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress, ratified the agreement earlier on Saturday, and Xi said that the Asian giant was “solemnly” committed to the issue.
“Hopefully this will encourage other countries to take similar efforts,” he said.
Until Saturday only 24 of the signatories had ratified the accord, including France and many island states threatened by rising sea levels but who only produce a tiny proportion of the world’s emissions.
Ban said there would be high-level talks in New York later this month to push more countries to sign up, and told the two leaders they had “added powerful momentum” to efforts to bring the accord into force.
“I am optimistic we can do it before the end of this year.”
Campaigners welcomed the move, with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) saying they had sent “a very powerful signal that there will be real global action on climate change.”
Under the Paris accord, China has pledged to cut its carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 60-65 percent from 2005 levels by 2030 and increase non-fossil fuel sources in primary energy consumption to about 20 percent.
In its Paris commitment, the US promised to cut its own emissions 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.
During the negotiations over the Paris deal China had stressed the concept of “differentiated responsibilities” — the idea that developed countries should shoulder the lion’s share of the burden as they have polluted most since the Industrial Revolution.
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