EU triggers entry into force of global climate agreement

The European Union has officially joined the Paris Agreement, triggering the entry into force of the landmark deal to tackle climate change. Ambassadors from the EU and the seven Member States that have already completed their national procedures (Slovakia, France, Hungary, Germany, Malta, Austria and Portugal) deposited their ratification instruments at the UN headquarters yesterday. The official ceremony will take place on Friday, 7 October in New York at the United Nations headquarters, hosted by the Slovak Minister of Environment, László Sólymos, and Climate Action and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete. Together with other international partners that have deposited recently, the EU and the UN will celebrate the deposit of the instruments that have triggered the entry into force of the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement, which was adopted in December 2015 by 195 countries, will legally enter into force on 4 November 2016. In the presence of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the President of COP 21 Ségolène Royal, the political process for the European Union to ratify the Agreement was already concluded earlier this week (see the full STATEMENT by the Commission). This follows the State of the Union Address by President Juncker on 14 September 2016 in which he called for a swift ratification of the Paris Agreement (the address is available here). Europe by Satellite will cover the official ceremony in New York.