Good news from Brazil, and no it is not the Olympics

Last week the Brazilian Senate ratified the Paris Agreement, making it one step closer to make this major climate change mitigation effort a reality. Brazil is the sixth world biggest carbon emitter and the biggest to ratify to date. 

22 countries have already ratified the Paris Agreement, but they represent a little bit more than one percent of global emissions only. A minimum of 55 nations representating 55 percent of global emissions need to ratify the Paris Agreement for it to take effect.

As Mashable explained :

According to an analysis released this week by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Marshall Islands, around 58 countries together representing nearly 54 percent of global emissions have now ratified or pledged to work towards the ratification of the Paris Agreement by the end of the year.

This includes the U.S. and China, which are the top two global emitters.

Assuming all these nations do join the agreement this year, then a 2016 entry into force would only require Russia, India, Japan, Brazil, South Korea, South Africa or Turkey to also ratify the agreement in 2016, the Marshall Islands analysis found.

Overall, many analysts believe that the Paris Agreement will become a reality either this year or next. Indeed, to Climate Change News :

In order to enter into force, the Paris Agreement needs ratification by at least 55 countries, accounting for at least 55% of global greenhouse-gas emissions.  As of today, 22 countries have ratified, covering a mere 1.08% of global emissions.

The world’s top two polluters, China and the USA, had already committed themselves to join the agreement this year, and are likely to deposit their respective ratification/accession instruments during Ban’s event.

With the USA (17.89% of global emissions), China (20.09%) and Brazil (2.48%) on board, the agreement would reach 41.54% of global emissions, according to official UN figures.

If the EU (27 countries, 10.55% of global emissions without Britain) joined, it would come to inches of meeting both criteria (52 countries and 52.09% of global emissions).

Let us see how all this turns out but I am confident. It is not as if the writing weren’t on the walls

Photo credits: Lima Pix, Flickr

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