Some 60 countries have now ratified the world’s first comprehensive climate deal, meeting one of two thresholds needed to bring the agreement into force.
At an event at the United Nations 31 countries submitted their ratification of the Paris Agreement, which commits countries to cutting greenhouse emissions to stop dangerous climate change, bringing the total who have done so to 60.
For the Paris Agreement, secured in the French capital last December, to come into force, it must be ratified by at least 55 countries accounting for 55% of the world’s emissions.
The 55 countries target has now been met, while the emissions total is just below 48%.
The European Union is under pressure to fast-track its ratification of the deal, which would allow the bloc’s 12% of global emissions to count towards the total before all individual member states had ratified the agreement.
Prime Minister Theresa May announced to the UN that the UK would ratify the agreement by the end of the year.
The world’s biggest emitters, China and the US, have already signed up to the agreement.
Those who ratified on Wednesday included Mexico, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco, which is hosting the next round of climate talks in November.
UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said the momentum towards bringing the agreement into force was “remarkable”.
“It can sometimes take years or even decades for a treaty to enter into force. It is just nine months since the Paris climate conference. This is testament to the urgency of the crisis we all face,” he said.
With more countries pledging to join the agreement before the end of the year, it is expected the Paris Agreement could come into force in 2016.
The deal was originally set to begin in 2020, but the increasing dangers of climate change have prompted calls for it to come in early to allow urgent action to tackle greenhouse gas emissions.
Jill Duggan, director of The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group (CLG), which brings together 24 global businesses, said the speed of the agreement coming into force showed governments understood and responded to the urgency of the climate challenge.
“The ratification by the European Union, which accounts for 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions, will be instrumental to reaching the required threshold of 55 countries and 55% of emissions.
“European leaders should be commended for agreeing to speed up their ratification process.
“Members of The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group call on the EU to stay at the forefront of climate action and fully join the Paris Agreement in the next couple of weeks,” she urged.
The deal enters into force 30 days after it meets both thresholds, and if the EU ratifies in the coming days, it could come into force by the time the climate talks begin in Marrakesh, Morocco, on November 7.
The first of the two thresholds was passed just a day after US scientists revealed the world’s record-breaking temperature trend had continued, with August becoming the 16th month in a row to reach new highs in records dating back to 1880.
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