EU ratifies Paris climate agreement

The European Parliament (EP) on Tuesday gave the green light to the Paris climate agreement, meaning that the global deal on fighting climate change will come into force much earlier than expected.

EP approved the EU's ratification of the deal by 610 votes to 38, with 31 abstentions.

The vote will allow the Paris agreement to enter into force in time for the COP 22 Climate Change Conference next month in Marrakech.

In order to come into force, the Paris agreement should be ratified by at least 55 countries representing at least 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions. So far 62 states, accounting for 51.89% of global emissions, have approved the deal. The EU addition with its some 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions, is triggering the deal's entry into force.

Following EP approval, the EU, together with the seven member states that have completed the ratification process, will be able to deposit the ratification instruments in the UN headquarters in New York by October 7. These member states are Hungary, France, Slovakia, Austria, Malta, Portugal and Germany.

The Paris agreement, struck at the COP21 summit in late 2015, sets a goal of limiting global warming below 2 degrees Celsius and pushes even further to try to keep temperatures at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. It incorporates commitments from 187 countries to reduce emissions.

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