India has just ratified the Paris Climate Agreement, which makes it closer to becoming active. The South Asian giant is the fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world.

The agreement was negotiated in December last year by 195 countries and is set to enter into force when enough states to represent the equivalent to fifty-five percent of global emissions ratify the accord. The process for ratification includes officially signing the agreement, accepting the agreement at a national level and finally depositing an “instrument of ratification” at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.

India, which is especially vulnerable to climate change, has just ratified the Paris Agreement. Photo credit: Doomstead Diner / Publish Your Articles
India, which is especially vulnerable to climate change, has just ratified the Paris Agreement. Photo credit: Doomstead Diner / Publish Your Articles

India and the Paris agreement

The United States, Brazil, and China, some of the planet’s biggest greenhouse emitters were the first in ratifying the Paris accord. Several smaller countries have followed. India generates four percent of all global emissions, which means the agreement is on the verge of activation.

So far, sixty-two countries have ratified the accord, an equivalent of fifty-one percent of global emissions as stated by the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that India had shown “global leadership and vision” by ratifying the accord. The ratification was done on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, which led to President Obama claiming that Indian had carried on Gandhi’s “legacy.”

“This demonstrates to an even greater degree the broad global support for the Paris agreement and for strong action on climate change… It adds to what has been global momentum. [The Indian Primer Minister] has recognized the ways that climate change can have severe impacts, especially on vulnerable populations,” said David Waskow, director of the international climate initiative at the World Resources Institute.

India is especially vulnerable to climate change. The country possesses a long coastline that is at risk of rising sea levels. India has also dealt with both heat waves and intense floods in recent years, which had killed thousands and severely affected the nation’s agriculture.

India and electricity service

Ajay Mathur, director general of the Energy and Resources Institute of New Delhi, has noted the government has three projects to help reduce their environmental print. First is the use of renewable energy to balance supply and consumption of electricity.

India’s economic development means that hundreds of millions of people are receiving power for the first time, which increases the country use of nonrenewable energy sources. The India government wants to canalize these new users into the wind and solar power to build out the country’s electricity grid.

Next, there is a program that aims to enhance the efficient of the agriculture sector and a program to research renewable forms of air conditioning, since this accounts for half of the electricity demands in the country.

“We think India is moving to the center stage of global energy. All the numbers are indicating that India will be the number one country in terms of coal consumption worldwide. India will be the number one country for oil demand growth worldwide. And India will be the country with more than 20 percent of the solar [power] worldwide,” claimed Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency.

The largest greenhouse emitters in the world

Some of the biggest polluters in the world have not ratified the Paris agreement yet. This includes Russia, which accounts for seven percent of global emissions, followed by Japan with almost four percent, Canada with close to two percent, South Korea with 1.85 percent, México with 1.7 percent, Indonesia with nearly one and a half percent, South Africa and Australia both with 1.46 percent.

However, it is believed that the European Union as a whole, whose twenty-eight member nations together account for twelve percent of the global emissions, could ratify the agreement next week, making it enter into force.

Some of the biggest polluters in the world have not ratified the Paris agreement yet. Photo credit: Climate and Women WordPress Page / Your Article Library
Some of the biggest polluters in the world have not ratified the Paris agreement yet. Photo credit: Climate and Women WordPress Page / Your Article Library

The first three months of 2016 have become the hottest in the recorded history. Most of Greenland’s ice sheet melted in a way that scientists have “ever seen.” Meanwhile, increased warmer seas are destroying coral reefs and other marine life.

Researchers have stated that sea levels could rise faster than previously believed, covering entire coastal communities all over the world. Even if the Paris agreement enters into force, scientists have stated that the Earth will still warm more than 2 degrees Celsius, which will drastically change the planet’s climate.

Source: The Washington Post