Sixty nations ratify pact to cut global emissions

A total of 60 countries have ratified an international pact which seeks to lower the rate of global emissions and adapt new ways of countering the effects of climate change.

The ratification by the countries, which account for 48 per cent of emissions, was just seven per cent shy of the threshold of 55 per cent that is required to bring into force the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Environment and Natural Resources Cabinet Secretary Judi Wakhungu said even though Kenya was yet to ratify the agreement, plans are at an advanced stage to ensure it has joined the 60 members by the end of next month.

“We have promised to ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change by the end of October when we will hold a follow-up meeting in Marrakesh (in Morocco),” she said on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, US.

CLIMATE CHANGE COUNCIL
Prof Wakhungu said Kenya has already put in place the Climate Change Act in May and she expects the Climate Change Council to be in place before signing of the agreement.

“We are awaiting the formalisation of the Climate Change Council which has to go through Cabinet approval, Parliament before the President makes the appointments. I don’t foresee anything going wrong at this stage,” she said.

During the high level meeting on climate change at the UN Complex in New York, some of the countries which record high emissions and were yet to complete their domestic process, pledged to ratify the agreement by the end of the year.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon praised the pace at which member states were moving to ratify the agreement to make it possible to come into force earlier than expected.

“This momentum is remarkable. It can sometimes take years or even decades for a treaty to enter into force. It is just nine months since the Paris climate conference. This is testament to the urgency of the crisis we all face.”

The US and China, the world’s largest emitters, ratified the agreement early this month, setting the stage for other countries to quickly join the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The Paris Climate Agreement marked a watershed moment in taking action on climate change.

Adopted by 195 parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) last December in Paris, the Agreement calls on countries to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future, and to adapt to the increasing impacts of climate change.

In April this year, 175 world leaders signed the Paris Agreement, the most to ever sign a treaty on a single day.

The early entry into force of the Paris Agreement would trigger the operational provisions of the agreement and accelerate efforts to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius, and to build climate resilience.

NEGOTIATE FOR FUNDS

On Wednesday, Prof Wakhungu said the ratification of the agreement will place Kenya in a favourable situation of negotiating for more funds to counter loss and damage and accessing technology.

“It (ratification) places you in a favourable position to negotiate for funds and it is better for us since we bear the brunt of the climate change, we will benefit,” she said.