3 May 2016: Seychelles and the Gambia signed the Paris Agreement on 25 and 26 April respectively, signaling their intent to ratify the Agreement and their political will to implement it. These two signatures follow 175 that were garnered on 22 April at a High-Level Signing Ceremony hosted on the day the Agreement opened for signature.

The remaining 20 Parties to the UNFCCC that have not yet signed will have the opportunity to do so through 21 April 2017. The Agreement was adopted by the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) on 12 December 2015. It will enter into force on the 30th day after the date on which at least 55 Parties accounting for at least 55% of total global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions deposit their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.

With a target date of 2020 for entry into force of the Paris Agreement and an urgent need to take climate action now, COP 21 also urged Parties in a decision accompanying the Agreement (Decision 1/CP.21) to ratify the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol. The Amendment formalizes commitments for the Protocol’s second commitment period (CP2), which runs from 2013-2020.

Since the second week of COP 21, eight Parties have accepted the Amendment, bringing the total number of ratifications to 65. The Amendment will enter into force when 144 or three-quarters of Parties to the Protocol have submitted instruments of acceptance.

Mali submitted its instrument on 7 December 2015; Cyprus on 10 December 2015; Kiribati on 11 February 2016; Botswana on 7 March 2016; Guinea on 6 April 2016; the Philippines on 13 April 2016; Zimbabwe on 20 April 2016; and Romania on 3 May 2016.

The Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol was adopted by Decision 1/CMP.8 at the eighth session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 8), which took place in Doha, Qatar, on 26 November – 8 December 2012. Both the Doha Amendment and the Paris Agreement are critical for achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 (take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects). [UNFCCC Press Release – Seychelles and Gambia] [IISD RS Story on High-Level Signing Ceremony] [Status of the Doha Amendment Webpage] [UN Treaty Collection Doha Amendment Webpage]