India ratified the Paris Agreement (on Climate Change) on 2nd October 2016, the day of birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The Instrument of Ratification was deposited by India with the UN at an event organised in New York to commemorate ‘International Day on Non Violence’ on the occasion of Mahatma’s birth anniversary.
The Paris Agreement was adopted last year on 12th December 2015 and India signed the Paris Agreement in New York early this year on 22nd April 2016. A total of 191 countries have signed to the Paris Agreement so far. As per the provisions of the Paris Agreement, the treaty will come into force as and when 55 countries contributing to 55 % of total global emission ratify the agreement. India’s decision to ratify the agreement has pushed the cumulative level of emission of countries that have ratified the agreement as on 2nd October 2016 to 51.89%.
With the gathering momentum and willingness expressed by several other countries to ratify the agreement before the end of this year, it is expected that the Agreement will enter into force soon and give a thrust to the global actions to address climate change. Given the critical role that India played in securing international consensus on Paris Agreement, this step further underlines India’s responsive leadership in the community of nations committed to global cause of environmental protection and climate justice.
While agreeing to ratify the Paris Agreement, India has declared that it will treat its national laws, its development agenda, availability of means of implementation, its assessment of global commitment to combating climate change, and predictable and affordable access to cleaner source of energy as the context in which the Agreement is being ratified.
Paris Agreement pertains to post-2020 climate actions. In the pre-2020 period, developed countries are to act as per the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, while some developed and developing countries have taken voluntary pledges under the Cancun Agreements under the Convention.