A host of countries including the US, China and Canada have promised to sign up to the Paris climate accord this year. According to officials this has increased hopes that the Paris climate deal will be in force before the initial target date of 2020, and could even be in force as early as this year.
On 22 April more than 150 Governments, including 40 heads of state are expected to attend a symbolic signing ceremony for the agreement at the United Nations. This will be the largest one day signing of any international agreement.
The anticipation will be over which world leaders legally sign up to join the agreement. In doing so, this would legally bind them to the promises made at the Paris climate deal late last year to keep global warming below 2 degrees.
An earlier start date than anticipated indicates serious commitment to dealing with this global challenge according to the World Bank. It may also provide momentum for even deeper emission cuts and possibly help to attain an even more ambitious target of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees.
This momentum to kick start the Paris climate deal is in sharp contrast to previous international efforts to tackle climate change, most notably the Kyoto protocol which took four years to take effect.
Canada's environment and climate change minister, Catherine McKenna said that Canada is committed to signing the Paris agreement this year. She added: ''We can't just now rest on our laurels and have a nice signing on Earth Day and then we all go home.''
Despite this enthusiasm the legal enforcement of the Paris deal remains a tall order. The agreement must be approved by 55 countries accounting for 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions to come into force. Whilst China and the US say they are committed to joining this year, there would still be a gap of more than 15% of global emissions.
Some countries including India and Japan, who collectively total 7.89% of global greenhouse gas emissions, require their Parliaments to approve the Paris agreement. Whereas the European Union would need agreement from all 28 of its Member States before it can join. This makes it highly unlikely that these countries will be in a position to join early on.
However hope remains for an early start on the Paris climate deal as so far 10 countries have said they would join the agreement this year. It is likely that governments may form coalitions of smaller countries in the hope to reach the 55% threshold with countries including Mexico, the Phillippines and Australia possibly taking part.
