Ratification of Paris climate agreement gets govt go ahead

NEW DELHI: Paving the way for bringing the historic Paris agreement into force, the government on Wednesday approved its ratification which will be formalised on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
The nod by the Union Cabinet comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the move which is expected to give momentum to implementation of measures to control global warming among other environmental issues.
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said that with this India will be one of the key countries instrumental in bringing the historic Paris agreement into force.
“Today the Union Cabinet approved the ratification of Paris agreement which is a historic decision. With the ratification, India will be one of the key countries instrumental in bringing the Paris agreement into force,” Javadekar told reporters.
The decision will further underline India’s responsive leadership, committed to global cause of environment protection and climate justice.
Javadekar said that there were two conditions for the Paris deal to come into force. The pact will come into force after it is ratified by at least 55 countries that account for 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, he said.
Javadekar further stated that although 61 countries in the world have ratified the agreement till now, India’s move to ratify it will bring the total emissions to 51.89 per cent.
After having noted that the four-year period between 2016-2020 is also important, Javadekar said that India has played its part in the promotion and awareness of the decline of environmental health and now will remind the world community that their pre-2020 actions are also important. (PTI)