French President François Hollande signed, on 15 June, a bill formally ratifying the Paris Agreement on climate change.
France, which held the Presidency of the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 21) and helped usher in the Paris Agreement in December 2015, follows Hungary, which was the first EU member State to ratify, passing legislation unanimously in support of the Agreement on 24 May.
15 June 2016: French President François Hollande signed, on 15 June, a bill formally ratifying the Paris Agreement on climate change. France, which held the Presidency of the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 21) and helped usher in the Paris Agreement in December 2015, follows Hungary, which was the first EU member State to ratify, passing legislation unanimously in support of the Agreement on 24 May.
President Hollande’s signing of the bill follows its unanimous approval on 8 June by the French Senate, and by the National Assembly on 17 May.
The Paris Agreement will come into force when 55 countries representing 55% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions deposit their instruments of ratification with the UN. The EU is a regional economic integration organization for the purposes of the UNFCCC, and, consequently, the Paris Agreement. Each of the EU’s 28 member States is also a Party to the UNFCCC. Accordingly, the EU has the opportunity to formally join the Paris Agreement as a Party, in addition to each of its member States. However, for the purpose of entry into force, the EU’s ratification cannot be counted as additional to those deposited by its member States.
The European Commission has signaled its intent to lead the EU through a “quick ratification.” The Commission presented a proposal on 10 June for the EU to ratify the Paris Agreement, which the European Parliament and Council will consider for approval. Once the European Parliament consents, the Council can approve the Commission’s proposal in the form of a Council decision. EU member States can continue to ratify the Agreement at the national level in parallel to the EU process.
In related news, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced that he will convene an event during the UN General Assembly’s high-level week in September for countries to deposit their instruments of ratification. He also welcomed an announcement by India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, on 7 June that the country intends to ratify the Agreement this year.
Once in force, the Paris Agreement is expected to contribute toward Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 – Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. [French Senate Press Release (French)] [French President Press Release (French)] [Hungarian Parliament Paris Agreement Ratification Webpage] [European Commission Press Release] [European Commission Climate Action Press Release] [UN Secretary-General Remarks] [COP 21 Press Release]