More than 155 of the 197 member states to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change will have representatives in New York on Friday for the signing ceremony of the Paris climate change agreement, the UNFCCC confirmed Monday. The RSVP list, which is subject to change, also indicates which countries will sign the agreement and which will attend with ratification documents in hand.
The Paris Agreement, the world’s first universal climate change deal, was adopted in December during the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP21). Before the agreement can take effect at least 55 member parties representing no less than 55 percent of the world’s emissions have to sign the agreement and submit documents of domestic ratification, acceptance, or approval.
Of the 155 parties that intend to attend the ceremony, 131 have said they will sign the agreement on that date. Eight of these parties have also indicated they will attend with documents of ratification, approval, or acceptance to submit immediately. The countries submitting documents are Tuvalu, Samoa, Saint Lucia, Nauru, Maldives, Fiji, Belize, and Barbados. These eight countries represent only .02 percent of global emissions.
The greatest push to the 55 percent requirement will come when the U.S. and China, both of which intend to sign the agreement Friday, submit their documents. Together these two countries account for 37.98 percent of global emissions. These percentages, which are written into the agreement, represent the most up-to-date GHG data communicated by parties to the UNFCCC as of December 2015.
