Paris accord may be in force this yr: US climate change envoy

The Paris Agreement on climate change is likely to enter into force by the end of this year, US Special Envoy for Climate Change Jonathan Pershing indicated here today.
"The Prime Minister of India was one of the key partners in this exercise, along with my (US) President and other global leaders," he said, interacting with students of the Xavier Institute of Communications in south Mumbai.
"We are now at a stage where we see this agreement likely to be in force this year itself," Pershing said.
The Paris Agreement will enter into force when at least 55 countries/parties to the UN climate convention accounting for at least 55 percent of the total global greenhouse gas emissions submit their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.

"We have to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to the order of 80 to 100 per cent," Pershing, who is part of a small team of senior Obama administration officials trying to cement durable regulations on climate change, said.
He lauded the leadership by India and the US in implementing the Paris Agreement and in other multilateral climate fora, as well as the importance of climate and clean energy cooperation in the two countries mutual relation.
Pershing was in Mumbai for meetings with members of the finance sector on how to catalyse investment in clean energy.
Earlier, Pershing had travelled to Cairo (Egypt) and Dubai (United Arab Emirates) where he met with government officials to discuss next steps to address global climate change, including rapid entry-into-force of the Paris Agreement, implementation of countries' Nationally Determined Contributions, mobilising private sector finance for low-carbon climate resilient solutions and clean energy, and climate adaptation and resilience.