The EU is "ridiculous" for
not having ratified the Paris accord on fighting climate change,
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Thursday.
"We were the promoters" of the accord, he told the European
Economic and Social Council (EESC), "but now the United States,
China, India and Japan have ratified and Europe (not)?." He said
"this way we lose face internationally". Juncker recalled that
he urged ratification at last week's EU summit in Bratislava and
reiterated: "the EU's influence and credibility in the world is
at stake". The Paris Agreement, a deal within the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on greenhouse
gas emissions mitigation starting in 2020, was adopted in
December 2015. As of September 2016, 187 UNFCCC members have
signed the treaty, 60 of which have ratified it. The agreement
will only enter into force when 55 countries that produce at
least 55% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions ratify it.
Although the minimum number of ratifications has been reached,
the ratifying states do not produce the requisite percentage of
greenhouse gases for the agreement to enter into force.
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