The German government is sending a clear signal that Germany wants to actively pursue climate protection. That is why it initiated legislation to ratify the Paris Climate Agreement. Today the Cabinet adopted the draft law.
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Germany will be transposing the UN's Paris Climate Agreement wholesale. If the Bundestag votes to adopt the legislation, Germany will have played its part in ratifying the Agreement. It will also be laying the foundation for all further climate protection legislation in Germany.
The Paris Climate Agreement will enter into force 30 days after at least 55 states that are accountable in total for at least 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions have ratified it. “We want to try and have completed the entire process before the UN Climate Change Conference in Marrakesh. And then we plan to hand over the instrument of ratification together with the European Union and other Member States,” Chancellor Merkel said yesterday at the seventh Petersberg Climate Dialogue.
The Paris Climate Agreement was deposited with the UN in New York for signature on 22 April. Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks signed the Agreement on Germany’s behalf – another 177 other countries did the same. Since then the ratification process has been set in motion, as a country’s signature alone does not mean the Agreement is binding on it.
The ratification process varies from country to country. A total of 19 countries have already deposited their instruments of ratification with the UN Secretary-General in New York.
Germany sets great store by completing the national ratification process as speedily as possible. The German government plans to have its national ratification process completed by November at the latest. The other Member States of the European Union (EU) have also launched their own national processes.
The Paris Climate Agreement, signed in December 2015, is the first internationally binding framework for a global turnaround in energy policy. The nations of the world want to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius. In fact, the target is to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times. In addition, greenhouse gas neutrality is to be achieved by the second half of this century. Rich industrialised nations are also required to draw up a concrete funding road map by 2020 on how they plan to support those regions of the world that are most adversely affected by climate change.
As soon as the Member States of the EU have all completed their national procedures, the European Parliament will ratify the Agreement. Then the EU can deposit a joint EU instrument of ratification with the UN. “We want to send a clear signal that Europe is implementing the Paris outcomes and is pulling together in one direction when it comes to climate action,” Angela Merkel said at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue.
France completed its national legislative process to ratify the Paris Climate Agreement on 15 June. It was the second European country, after Hungary, and the first G7 state to carry out its national ratification process.
The world’s biggest polluters – China and the United States – plan to ratify the Agreement by the end of this year. Together the two countries account for more than 40 per cent of global emissions. Angela Merkel ventured a prediction: “All the signs are fairly optimistic.”
The Paris Climate Agreement will enter into force 30 days after at least 55 states that are accountable in total for at least 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions have ratified it. The goal of it entering into force by the end of this year is thus in sight.