Govt approves ratification of Paris Agreement

The government today approved the proposal for ratification of the "historic" Paris climate deal which will be formalised on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, making India one of the key countries to bring the pact into force.
The nod by the Union Cabinet comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the decision which is expected to give momentum to implementation of measures at international level to control global warming.
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said, with this, India will be one of the key countries which will be instrumental in bringing the 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 here.

The decision will further underline India's responsive leadership, which is committed to global cause of environment protection and climate justice, he said.
Javadekar said the pact will come into force after it has been ratified by at least 55 countries which account for 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

So far, 61 countries have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval accounting in total for 47.79 per cent of the total global greenhouse gas emissions.
India's decision to ratify the Agreement will take the number of cumulative level of emission of countries that have ratified the Agreement so far to 51.89 per cent as its total emissions is 4.1 per cent of the global emissions.

"Because of India's push, now the world will ratify the deal soon. It will become irreversible course of action for humankind. It is a common resolve to keep temperature rise below two degrees Celsius. Now that target is achievable," Javadekar said.
The Minister had earlier told reporters that the cumulative emissions of 61 countries put together was 51.89 per cent and India's ratification will help bridge the remaining 3 per cent to fulfil the second condition.
Though the UN secretariat is closed on weekends, it will remain open specifically to allow India ratify the deal, Javadekar said.
Paris Agreement was adopted by 185 nations last year on December 12 and India signed it in New York on April 22 this year.

With the momentum gathering and willingness expressed by
several other countries to ratify the agreement before the end of this year, it is expected that the deal will enter into force soon and give a thrust to the global actions to address climate change, an official statement said.
Noting that the four-year period between 2016-2020 is also important, Javadekar said that India has played its part and now will remind the world community that their pre-2020 actions are also important.
During the recent BJP's National Council meet in Kozhikode, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said," There is one work left in the CoP21 (Conference of Parties).

"Ratification is yet to be done and India too is yet to do it. Today on the birth anniversary of Deen Dayal Upadhyay, I announce that India will ratify the decisions on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi."
China and the US - responsible for around 40 per cent of the world's carbon emissions - have already jointly ratified the Paris climate change deal that aims to significantly reduce global emissions, giving hope that the landmark accord may come into effect by the end of this year.
"While agreeing to ratify the Paris Agreement, the Cabinet has also decided that India should declare that it will treat its national laws, its development agenda, availability of means of implementation,... Its assessment of global commitment to combating climate change, and predictable and affordable access to cleaner source of energy as the context in which the Agreement is being ratified," the official statement said.

Given the critical role that India played in securing international consensus on Paris Agreement, the decision to ratify will further underline New Delhi's responsive leadership in the comity of nations committed to global cause of environmental protection and climate justice.