Thirty-one countries officially joined the Paris climate accords this week at United Nations’ meetings in New York City. The announcements bring the total number of countries joining the Paris Agreement to 60, representing 48 percent of global emissions. Once nations that generate 55 percent of global emissions officially join, the agreement will enter into force within 30 days. The new countries include Brazil, the world’s seventh-largest emitter of carbon dioxide; Argentina; Mexico; and the United Arab Emirates. China and the United States officially joined the agreement earlier this month. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon predicted the agreement, created in December last year, would enter into force by the end of this year. “What once seemed impossible now seems inevitable,” Ban said.
Paris Climate Agreement Moves One Step Closer to Entering Into Force
More From E360
-
ANALYSIS
How China Became the World’s Leader on Renewable Energy
-
Biodiversity
As Flooding Increases on the Mississippi, Forests Are Drowning
-
Climate
In Mongolia, a Killer Winter Is Ravaging Herds and a Way of Life
-
Energy
In Rush for Lithium, Miners Turn to the Oil Fields of Arkansas
-
Food & Agriculture
How a Solar Revolution in Farming Is Depleting World’s Groundwater
-
INTERVIEW
What Will It Take to Save Our Cities from a Scorching Future?
-
Climate
Rain Comes to the Arctic, With a Cascade of Troubling Changes
-
Health
Plastics Reckoning: PVC Is Ubiquitous, But Maybe Not for Long
-
Energy
How a Legal Loophole Allows Gas Leaks to Keep on Flowing
-
Solutions
Flying Green: The Pursuit of Carbon-Neutral Aviation Revs Up
-
TECHNOLOGY
As Use of A.I. Soars, So Does the Energy and Water It Requires
-
Cities
How Parking Reform Is Helping Transform American Cities