China ratifies Paris climate agreement

• 42 minutes ago
 
• From the sectionChina

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Image captionSigning up to cut emissions means China will have to move away from coal power

China's top legislature has ratified the Paris global climate agreement, state news agency Xinhua reports.

The country is the world's largest emitter of harmful CO2 emissions, which cause climate change.

China and the US were expected to announce ratification jointly before or at the weekend's G20 Hangzhou summit.

In a landmark deal struck in December, countries agreed to cut emissions enough to keep the global average rise in temperatures below 2C.

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Members of China's National People's Congress Standing Committee adopted "the proposal to review and ratify the Paris Agreement" on Saturday morning at the end of a week-long session.

The Paris deal is the world's first comprehensive climate agreement. It will only come into force legally when it is ratified by countries producing 55% of global carbon emissions.

When the US - the worlds second-largest emitter - follows China's lead, it will bump the tally up to 40%.

Before China made this announcement, the 23 nations that had ratified the agreement accounted for just over 1% of emissions.

Analysts warn that the target of keeping temperature rises below 2C is already in danger of being breached.

For 14 consecutive months meteorologists have recorded the hottest month on record, and the UK's Met Office has forecast that 2016 is likely to hit temperatures 1.1C above pre-industrial levels.

Source: BBC News