Barcelona – The United Nations expects the number of countries that will sign the Paris climate change
agreement at an April 22 ceremony in New York, to exceed the record for the number signing up to an international accord on the day it opens.
Selwin Hart, Director of the UN Secretary General’s Climate Change Support Team, said this on Tuesday during a press briefing in New York.
He said the largest number to date was 119 countries that signed the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on Dec. 10, 1982.
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Heart said the number of countries inking the new global deal to tackle climate change, agreed by around 195 countries in December, is likely to exceed that record.
“There is extremely strong political will to be part of this historic moment, because many countries are excited and energised about participating.
“Ban Ki-moon has invited world leaders, and UN expectations are that 120 or more nations will sign the accord there,’’ he said.
Hart said many heads of state and government were due to attend the ceremony at UN headquarters, including Canada’s prime minister and the French president.
“The agreement can be formally signed by any representative designated by a country, and that signing the accord would enable it to be accepted at the national level.
Hart said the agreement is due to take effect in 2020, but requires at least 55 countries representing at least 55 per cent of global emissions to ratify or accede to it first.
“In the deal, governments agree to limit global temperature rise to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times and pursue efforts to keep it to 1.5 degrees. (Reuters/NAN)