National procedures for ratifying the Paris Agreement are now definitely speeding up in the EU. On Thursday 22 September, the German parliament ratified this first universal agreement on the fight against climate change. Entry into force of the agreement this year is now within reach.
The previous day, when 31 countries ratified the agreement at a special ceremony in New York, it was the Slovak parliament that did the same, much to the pleasure of László Sólymos, the current president of the Environment Council – which is coordinating the search for a solution to enable the EU to submit its ratification instrument to the UN on 7 October, without waiting for the 28 EU member states to have all completed their national procedures (see EUROPE 11629).
"I'm happy to see that the agreement has passed through the ratification process of our parliament, and I believe that Slovakia will set a positive example for the other EU member states", Sólymos said, though the Slovak president still had to sign to close the procedure. "As the country holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU, we're now able to focus fully on completing the ratification procedure at European level as soon as possible. This is one of our key priorities", he aded.
As proof of this, the extraordinary meeting of the Environment Council, which Sólymos has called in Brussels on 30 September, will focus exclusively on climate, with its agenda including ratification of the Paris Agreement by the EU and preparations for COP 22 (Marrakesh, 7-18 November). The EU certainly intends to have its say and to take part in the decision-making process regarding implementation of the agreement, but without sidelining the member states that will not have been able to submit their ratification instrument to the UN in time.
The Paris Agreement will enter into force 30 days after at least 55 parties representing at least 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions have submitted their ratification instrument. Current figures are at 60 countries (including Austria, France and Hungary) representing 47.6% of global emissions. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)