Paris Climate Agreement to enter into force on 4 November

The historic Paris Agreement to address climate change will enter into force on November 4, the United Nations has announced.

The Agreement provides that it shall enter into force 30 days after 55 countries, representing 55 per cent of global emissions, have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance or accession with the Secretary-General. As of 5th October, 73 countries and the European Union have joined the Agreement, exceeding the 55 per cent threshold for emissions.

Austria, Bolivia, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Malta, Nepal, Portugal and Slovakia, as well as the European Union were the latest countries to join the Agreement, following New Zealand and India, and the 31 countries which joined at a special event at the UN on 21 September during the General Assembly in September. In early September, the world's two largest emitters, China and the United States, joined the Agreement, providing the impetus for other countries to quickly complete their domestic ratification or approval processes.

The Paris Agreement's central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping the global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. 191 countries have signed the Agreement, signifying their intention to join.