Originally published on Sustainnovate.
Two of the largest greenhouse gas emitters in the world, the US and China, have confirmed that they will be signing the Paris COP21 climate change agreement on April 22 in New York, according to recent reports.
The two countries released a joint presidential statement recently that revealed the plans, and noted that the motive was to bring “the Paris Agreement into force as early as possible.”
Back on December 12, 2015, representatives from around 200 different countries finalized the Paris COP21 agreement, but the agreement requires at least 55 countries (representing at least 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions) to sign it before if goes into effect.
The climate change envoy to the recent talks for the US, Todd Stern, commented: “The best thing that can happen for them is to get this agreement going and get it into force.” It should be noted that Stern recently stepped down and was replaced in his position by Jonathan Pershing.
Climate Central provides more:
US Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to sign on behalf of the United States. India’s Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar will also attend the signing of the agreement at the United Nations headquarters, the Times of India reported last week.
The US-China statement also confirms that the countries will continue to cooperate on efforts to combat climate change. Both countries said they would work jointly to ensure that a global agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions in aviation at the International Civil Aviation Organization and a pact to curb HFCs, a potent greenhouse gas, are reached this year.
More than 120 countries are expected to sign the accord at the upcoming April 22 ceremony, according to the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Image by leniners (some rights reserved)
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