Swift ratification of Paris Agreement is a Pivotal Moment

Pacific Islands Forum Update

07 October 2016
Swift ratification of the Paris Agreement is a Pivotal Moment for the Pacific and the Planet
07/10/16

The Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Dame Meg Taylor, has welcomed the swift ratification of the Paris Agreement by country Parties, which now enables the agreement to enter into force in the first week of November.

“This is a pivotal moment for the planet and a lifeline for the most vulnerable people of the Pacific”, said Secretary General Taylor.

“Pacific countries need urgent action on climate change and the speed with which the countries of the world have responded to the call for action is inspiring,” said Ms Taylor.

“For years the Pacific Islands Forum has been calling on the world to take ambitious action towards addressing the adverse effects of climate change and the provision of scaled up finance. The rapid ratification of the Paris Agreement is something Forum Leaders have been advocating for tirelessly since the COP21 meeting in Paris last year. The momentum that has developed over the last nine months has been truly inspiring.”

At the annual Pacific Islands Forum meeting in the Federated States of Micronesia in September, Pacific Leaders were united in their call to remaining Forum Member States, Post Forum Dialogue partners and other countries to ratify the agreement as soon as possible.

Currently 14 of the 16 Forum Member Countries that are parties to the UNFCCC and eight of the 18 Post Forum Dialogue (PFD) Partners have ratified. Four of those PFD partners, Canada, France, Germany and the European Union, were among the eleven Parties who deposited their instruments of ratification yesterday. With 55 countries representing 55% of global emissions now having ratified the Paris Agreement, it will enter into force from the 4th of November 2016.

“The Paris Agreement will now enter into force just a few days before the COP22 meeting in Marrakech and the difficult work starts now. We need to harness this positive energy and continue to scale up climate action across the globe to secure a future for our Pacific people. Governments across the globe must set about meeting the national targets they have set for themselves as soon as possible if we want to keep the temperature limit under 1.5 degrees as Forum Leaders have been insisting.”

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