More countries to Join Paris Agreement Few Days Before COP22

Cairo – UN secretary general spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said tomorrow marks a milestone in climate change efforts as the Paris agreement will come into effect, during the daily press briefing in UN headquarters in New York on Thursday.

“Tomorrow is the day we all been waiting for,” he said. “Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will commemorate this historic day by having a conversation with civil society representatives.”

More countries joined the Paris Agreement this week including South Africa, Indonesia, and Denmark, increasing the total number of countries who ratified the agreement to 96. Later this afternoon Suadi Arabia and the Republic of Korea are expected to join as well, according to Dujarric.

This comes few days ahead of the 22nd conference of the parties on climate change (COP22) taking place in Marrakesh, Morocco to discuss cooperation and implementation mechanisms among UN member states to reach the goal of the Paris Agreement.

In December 2015, UN member states signed the agreement which aims to sustain earth temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius by 2100.  2015 was the warmest year in history that witnessed a rise in earth temperature up to 1.8 degrees Celsius, according to World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) report in January.

Moreover, a new report by the UN environment programme (UNEP) stated that even with the Paris Agreement, the world is still headed for a temperature rise up to 3.4 degrees in this century, which needs a curb in emissions is urgently needed by 25%

Zeid bin Ra’ad, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Thursday that this entry into force should spur States to be more ambitious in their commitment to tackling global warming.

“Climate change is a threat to the enjoyment of human rights now and in the years ahead, he said, adding that the rights of people disproportionately affected by climate change must be protected.”