Christiana Figueres, the Head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, said more than 130 countries and 60 world leaders have confirmed attendance for the April 22 climate signing in New York.
Figueres said on Friday in Oslo that the ceremony would open the period for signatures on last year’s Paris climate change agreement, but it remained unclear how many leaders would actually sign the document that day.
Figueres said China and the US had signified their intention to ink the agreement on April 22, in a step to endorse the 195-nation deal mapping out a shift away from fossil fuels toward greener energies this century.
US Secretary of State, John Kerry, is expected to sign for the United States.
She said after signing, the deal would require formal approval by at least 55 states, representing 55 per cent of world greenhouse gas emissions, before it enters into force.
Figueres said China and the US alone accounted for about 40 per cent.
She stressed that attending the ceremony does not mean that all would sign on April 22, the first day when the deal is open for formal signatures, since it was negotiated in December.
She added: “Some parliaments may not have given leaders formal permission to sign on the first day.
“Not every country is perhaps ready or able to sign, but let’s be patient and see.
“The main aim here is to see pens on paper, whether it is by a president, prime minister or another official.”
The Paris deal seeks to cut greenhouse gas emissions to spur a shift toward cleaner energies to limit heat waves, droughts, desertification, mudslides and a rise in sea levels.
Reuters/NAN.
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