Morocco ratifies the Paris Agreement
Today Morocco has submitted its ratification of the Paris Agreement to the UN general assembly in New York. “The progress made on Paris Agreement today is a good start for COP22” says Morocco Environment Minister Hakima El Haite. As of 21 September 2016, 181 Parties signed the Agreement. Of these 60 Parties, responsible for 47.8% of global emissions, have ratified it. For the deal to come into force, a total of 55 nations representing at least 55% of global emissions need to sign up.
Video messages from nations including Germany, France, the EU, Canada, Australia and South Korea all promised to ratify the Paris accord in the coming months. Barbara Hendricks, the German environment minister said her country planned to ratify the deal “well ahead” of the next UN climate meeting in Marrakesh in November. The UK has made a similar commitment. Should these promises be fulfilled, the agreement will pass the second threshold and come into force. Today also the Slovak parliament voted to ratify the Paris Agreement; after France, Hungary and Austria. Slovakia, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, aims to coordinate the ratification process so that the EU can finish it by 7 October 2016. To this end, Slovakia Environment Minister Lazlo Sólymos has called an extraordinary session of the Environment Council on 30 September in Brussels.
If all European Union countries ratify the Agreement in the coming months, the climate conference that opens in Marrakesh, Morocco, on 7 November, could feature the first meeting of the parties to the Paris Agreement. The parties would thus be involved in decision-making on crucial issues regarding the implementation of the Agreement.
United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon is confident that the Agreement will come into force in 2016. “I appeal to all leaders to accelerate domestic arrangements to join this year - said Ban Ki-moon - What once seemed impossible now seems inevitable. When this year ends, I hope we can all look back with pride knowing that we seized the opportunity to protect our common home.”