Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India would ratify the Paris climate deal on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Addressing delegates at the BJP’s national council meeting in Kozhikode, Mr. Modi said that, “on Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary, India will ratify the decisions reached at the Conference of Parties (CoP) in Paris.”
He explained that it was appropriate to make the announcement at a party forum because it was of a similar line of preservation of natural resources that had been articulated by Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) president Deen Dayal Upadhyay during the inception of the party.
Talking about the need to ratify the COP21 decision, Mr. Modi said there is a looming threat due to global warming to many coastal countries and cities.
The pact will come into force after it is ratified by at least 55 countries that account for 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. India accounts for around 4.5 per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissions.
The Agreement asks both rich and poor countries to take action to curb the rise in global temperatures that is melting glaciers, raising sea levels and shifting rainfall patterns. It requires governments to present national plans to reduce emissions to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
