World governments vow to end fossil fuel era at UN climate signing ceremony
Representatives of more than 170 countries endorse Paris agreement to cut carbon emissions, with France’s president saying: ‘There is no turning back’
Suzanne Goldenberg at the United Nations
and Arthur Neslen ∈Brussels
Friday, April 22nd 2016
More than 170 governments declared an end to the fossil fuel era
on Friday, using the signing ceremony for the landmark Paris
agreement as an occasion to renew their vows to fight climate
change.
The outpouring of support – the largest ever single-day turn-out for
a signing ceremony – underscored strong international commitment
to deliver on the promises made ∈Paris last December to avoid a
climate catastrophe, the leaders said.
The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said signatories to the deal
were embracing “a new covenant of the future”. Leonardo
DiCaprio, a UN climate ambassador, likened efforts against climate
change to the campaign to end slavery.
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, an indigenous women’s leader from
Chad, called on countries to following through on their promises.
Temperatures ∈ her country were already a blistering 48C (118F),
she said, and climate change threatened to obliterate billions spent
on development aid over recent decades. “Climate change is adding
to poverty every day,” she said.
[…]
But the turnout – including the presence of about 60 presidents and
′ ministers – and stirring rhetoric were seen as an important
measure of the momentum behind efforts to bring the Paris
agreement into force earlier than originally thought, possibly even
this year. Leaders also reaffirmed previous commitments to help
poor countries protect their people from climate change.
Early implementation would prevent the drift that set ∈ with the
Kyoto protocol ∈ the 1990s and – crucially with Donald Trump’s
ascendancy ∈ the Republican presidential primaries – impose a
four-year delay on any future leaders seeking to exit the agreement.
But as the leaders noted, events on the ground are moving fast. Last
year was the hottest year on record – and so were the first three
months of this year. Temperatures at the North Pole rose above
freezing last December, the depths of the polar night; and
temperatures there were 30C (54F) above normal. […]
(Retrieved and adapted from http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/22/un-climatechange-signing-ceremony?CMP=sharebtnlink. on April 24th, 2016)
The description as “the largest ever singleday turn-out for a signing ceremony” (lines 5 and 6) is due to the presence of:
