The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday gave its approval to ratify the Paris Agreement on Climate Change on the day of Gandhi Jayanti on October 2.
This comes after Modi recently announced this decision in Kerala. The ratification will give momentum to for implementation of measures at international level to control global warming.
“Because of India’s push, now the world will ratify the deal soon. It will become irreversible course of action for humankind. It is a common resolve to keep temperature rise below two degrees Celsius. Now that target is achievable,” Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said.
So far, 61 countries have ratified the Paris accord accounting for total for 47.79 per cent of the total global greenhouse gas emissions. This includes China and US that alone contribute to 40 per cent of global greenhouse emissions.
India’s decision to ratify the Agreement will take the figure of cumulative level of emission of countries that have ratified the Agreement so far to 51.89 per cent as its total emissions is 4.1 per cent of the global emissions.
While agreeing to ratify the Paris Agreement, the Cabinet has also decided that India should declare 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.