China, US ratify 2015 Paris climate deal

US President Barack Obama (right) shakes hands with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during a joint ratification of the Paris climate change agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the West lake State Guest House in Hangzhou on September 3, 2016. Obama said climate change would define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other challenge. PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • China is responsible for almost a quarter of the world’s emissions, with the US in second place on around 15 per cent.
  • Ban said there would be a high level meeting in New York this month to push more countries do so.

HANGZHOU, China, Saturday

The US and China have formally joined the Paris climate deal, with President Barack Obama hailing the accord as the “moment we finally decided to save our planet”.

The move by the world’s two biggest polluters is a major step forward for the 180-nation accord, which sets ambitious goals for capping global warming and funnelling trillions of dollars to poor countries facing climate catastrophe.

Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping handed ratification documents to UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who said he was optimistic the agreement would be in force by the end of the year.

At the ceremony in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, Obama said climate change would define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other challenge.

“History will show that the Paris deal ultimately proved to be a turning point the moment we finally decided to save our planet,” he said.

“There’s an American saying, ‘You need to put your money where your mouth is’. That’s what we’re doing.”

The Paris agreement aims to limit global temperature increases to two degrees centigrade, and would be triggered when at least 55 countries, accounting for 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, ratify it.

China is responsible for almost a quarter of the world’s emissions, with the US in second place on around 15 per cent.

China’s Communist-controlled parliament ratified the deal and President Xi said the Asian giant was solemnly committed to the issue.

“Hopefully this will encourage other countries to take similar efforts,” he said in Hangzhou, where he is to host the G20 summit of the world’s leading developed and emerging economies.

Until Saturday only 24 of the signatories had ratified the accord, including France and many island states threatened by rising sea levels but who only produce a tiny proportion of emissions.

Ban said there would be a high level meeting in New York this month to push more countries do so, and told the two leaders that they had added powerful momentum to efforts to bring the accord into force.

Climate is one of the few areas where the world’s two most powerful countries — who are at loggerheads on issues ranging from trade rows to cyberspying — are able to find common cause.