Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Boris Johnson has officially signed the Paris Agreement on behalf of the UK, joining more than 100 nations that have now approved the historic climate deal. The UK has agreed to a national climate action plan based largely on the country’s Climate Change Act, which commits to an 80% reduction in emissions against 1990 levels by 2050.
MPs unanimously agreed to approve the Paris Agreement ratification process last night, and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) tweeted a picture of Johnson signing the deal this afternoon.
The UK has become the 111th country to formally approve the Agreement. The ratification of a major nation during the UN’s COP22 climate change conference in Marrakech is a particularly welcome announcement, given the recent uncertainty caused by Donald Trump’s shock victory as US President, after Trump pledged to pull the US out of the treaty.
Paris Agreement: Essential Elements
The Paris Agreement builds upon the Convention and – for the first time – brings all nations into a common cause to undertake take ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. As such, it charts a new course in the global climate effort.
The Paris Agreement’s central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Additionally, the agreement aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change.
To reach these ambitious goals, appropriate financial flows, a new technology framework and an enhanced capacity building framework will be put in place, thus supporting action by developing countries and the most vulnerable countries, in line with their own national objectives. The Agreement also provides for enhanced transparency of action and support through a more robust transparency framework.
Paris Agreement – Status of Ratification
At least 111 Parties have ratified of 197 Parties to the Convention
On 5 October 2016, the threshold for entry into force of the Paris Agreement was achieved. The Paris Agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016. The first session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA1) will take place in Marrakech in conjunction with COP 22 and CMP 12.