Over 130 countries likely to sign Paris pact on climate change

NEW DELHI: A UN body today said that more than 130 countries are expected to sign the "historic" Paris climate agreement during a high-level signature ceremony convened by the UN Secretary General later this month in New York.

The signing ceremony will mark the first step toward ensuring that the Paris Agreement enters into force as early as possible.

The agreement will enter into force 30 days after at least 55 countries, accounting for 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, deposit their instruments of ratification or acceptance with the Secretary-General.

"A record number of countries are expected to sign the historic climate agreement adopted last December in Paris at a signing ceremony hosted by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on April 22.

"More than 130 countries have confirmed that they will sign the Paris Agreement on 22 April, the first day that the agreement will be open for signature.

"This would surpass the previous record of 119 signatures for an opening day signing for an international agreement, set by the Law of the Sea in Montego Bay in 1994," a United Nations Information Centre ( UNIC) statement today said.

It said that many countries have informally indicated that they will sign the agreement, with the numbers increasing rapidly each week. Over 60 Heads of State and Government will attend the ceremony, including French President François Hollande.

More than 190 nations adopted the Paris Agreement in December last year, which aims at limiting average global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius.

UNIC said that a number of countries have also indicated that they will deposit their instruments of ratification immediately after signing the agreement on 22 April.