France ratifies the Paris Agreement on climate change

France's President Francois Hollande has ratified the Paris Agreement, a deal on curbing global warming reached last year by 195 countries.
France today became the second European country to ratify, after Hungary, and the first the Group of Seven advanced economies. The ratification was formally authorized by the French parliament last week.
The Paris agreement aims to keep the global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius compared with preindustrial times. It enters into force once 55 countries representing at least 55 per cent of global emissions have joined it.
China, the world's top carbon emitter, said it intends to ratify the agreement before the G-20 summit in China in September.

The United States, the second-largest emitter, also announced its intention to ratify this year.