Representatives of 175 countries gathered at the United Nations headquarters in New York last week to sign the historic Paris climate agreement that was adopted in December. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took the opportunity of the signing to highlight the link between climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals.
“The era of consumption without consequences is over. We must intensify efforts to decarbonize our economies. And we must support developing countries in making this transition. The poor and most vulnerable must not suffer further from a problem they did not create,” he said.
The signing of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change now sets off the domestic ratification process: only after at least 55 countries who are party to the UNFCCC and account for at least 55 percent of the world’s emissions ratify the agreement does it enter into force.
About the author
Adva Saldinger@AdvaSal
Adva Saldinger is a Senior Reporter at Devex where she covers development finance, as well as U.S. foreign aid policy. Adva explores the role the private sector and private capital play in development and authors the weekly Devex Invested newsletter bringing the latest news on the role of business and finance in addressing global challenges. A journalist with more than 10 years of experience, she has worked at several newspapers in the U.S. and lived in both Ghana and South Africa.
