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India To Ratify Paris Climate Change Agreement On October 2

India will ratify the agreement n October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.



A water commuter carries a vessel of water on her head from the Vivekananda Chowk water tank in Latur, Maharashtra (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)
A water commuter carries a vessel of water on her head from the Vivekananda Chowk water tank in Latur, Maharashtra (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

India will ratify the Paris Climate Change agreement on October 2, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in New York on Sunday in a sudden announcement that will give momentum to the implementation of measures at international level to control global warming.

There is one work left in the CoP21 (Conference of Parties). Ratification is yet to be done and India too is yet to do it. Today on the birth anniversary of Deen Dayal Upadhyay, I announce that India will ratify the decisions on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

Modi said he had chosen the date, which is next Sunday, as Mahatma Gandhi’s life was an example of minimum carbon footprint. During the Paris climate meet in December last, more than 190 nations had agreed on setting ambitious goals for capping global warming and funnelling trillions of dollars to poor countries facing climate catastrophe. The pact will come into force after it is ratified by at least 55 countries that account for 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Talking about the need to ratify the COP21 decision, Modi said there is a looming threat due to global warming to many coastal countries and cities. Even Kerala, where the conclave was being held, is also a coastal area.

While Western countries, including the U.S., had been supporting an early ratification of the pact, India had been seeking more time to complete its national processes as it fears that any hasty decision may impact its developmental projects.