171 countries to sign Paris climate deal: UN chief

A record 171 nations will sign the Paris agreement at the United Nations to slow down climate change, said UN head Ban Ki-moon.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon speaks during the Paris Agreement on climate change ceremony, Friday, Apr 22, 2016 at UN headquarters. (Photo: AP/Mary Altaffer)

UNITED NATIONS: At least 171 countries will sign the Paris climate deal on Friday (Apr 22), a record number for a one-day signing of an international agreement, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.

"This is a moment in history," Ban said at the opening of the formal ceremony at the UN General Assembly.

Many states still need a parliamentary vote to formally approve the agreement. It will only enter into force when ratified by at least 55 nations representing 55 per cent of man-made greenhouse gas emissions.

Some experts predict the 55 percent thresholds can be reached this year. The United Nations said 13 countries, mostly small island developing states, are due to deposit instruments of ratification on Friday.

The United Nations expects some 60 heads of state and government at the signing ceremony. French President Francois Hollande and Hollywood actor and environmental activist Leonardo di Caprio are expected to attend. The previous first-day record for signatures was set in 1982 when 119 states signed the Convention on the Law of the Sea.

"It's happening much faster than anyone anticipated or expected," Hart said. "Independent analysis suggests that at least one of the top four emitters must ratify the agreement" for it to surpass the 55 per cent of emissions threshold.

China and the United States, the world's top emitters accounting together for 38 percent of emissions, are due to sign, along with Russia and India, who round out the top four.
Many developing nations are pushing to ensure the climate deal comes into force this year, partly to lock in the United States if a Republican opponent of the pact is elected president in November.

Even if the pact is fully implemented, promised greenhouse gas cuts are insufficient to limit warming to an agreed maximum, the United Nations says.

The first three months of 2016 have broken temperature records and 2015 was the warmest year since records began in the 19th century, with heat waves, droughts and rising sea levels.

Warm waters have done widespread damage to corals in Australia's Great Barrier Reef, and sea ice in the Arctic hit a record winter low last month.

- Agencies/rw