Beijing ratifies Paris Agreement on climate change

(Baonghean.vn) – On September 3, the National People's Congress of China ratified the Paris Agreement adopted on December 12, 2015 at the United Nations COP21 Conference on Climate Change.

China is currently the country that emits the most greenhouse gases into the environment in the world. Photo: AFP

At the closing session of the bi-monthly session in China, the bill was presented and passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

This can be seen as a big step forward as China is the country that emits the most greenhouse gases in the world. This figure is estimated at about 24% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the world, more than the US 17.9%.

The Paris Agreement on climate change is known to come into force on the condition that it is ratified by at least 55 countries representing 55% of greenhouse gas emissions. Once this threshold is reached, the agreement will be applied within 30 days.

However, only 25 countries representing less than 2% of global emissions have ratified the Paris Agreement. In response, France, the host country of COP21, expressed concern earlier this week about the delay in the ratification process.

Previously, on August 25, the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post revealed that Beijing and Washington planned to issue a joint statement on ratifying the agreement on September 2, two days before the G20 Summit in Hangzhou (China). It seems that China "got ahead" of the US when announcing the ratification of the agreement before the summit opened.

The Paris Agreement was adopted on December 12, 2015, aiming to keep the increase in global average temperature "well below 2°C" compared to pre-industrial times and try to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C. The Agreement aims to lay the foundation for controlling greenhouse gas emissions through establishing frameworks of political, economic and financial commitments. At the same time, it also calls for a rapid energy transition to cleaner energy sources such as solar, wind, etc.

Chu Thanh

(According to Le Monde)