Today in New York the first hurdle was cleared for the entry into force of the Paris Agreement, namely its ratification by at least 55 countries. Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks commented:
"As of today, 60 countries have ratified the Paris Agreement. This means we have cleared the first hurdle for its entry into force. This dynamic is very encouraging for international climate action. We now want to do all we can to ensure we overcome the second hurdle in the coming weeks. Parties to the agreement must represent more than 55 percent of global emissions. Almost 48 percent of emissions are currently represented - we are so close! With our emissions share of 2.5 percent, we in Germany want to help reach the 55 percent target. We have fought so long for this agreement, now is our chance to make it irreversible. I want Germany to be actively involved as a Party from the onset.
This is why we want to adopt the German law ratifying the agreement in the Bundestag and Bundesrat this week. I would like to thank the parliamentary groups and the Länder for helping speed up the process. In the EU I am advocating that the EU be allowed, together with some member states that have already reached this stage, to ratify the agreement now. Our legal experts have identified strategies for doing this, which we must now agree on within the Council of the European Union. This would speed up the EU ratification process massively. My goal is to be able to make a start on implementing the agreement at the next Climate Change Conference in Marrakesh in November.
Background to German ratification process:
The Federal Government already adopted the draft law ratifying the agreement in the Cabinet at the start of July. The envisaged legislative process would not have been complete until November meaning that the Paris Agreement could not be ratified by Germany until after the Climate Change Conference in Marrakesh. At the initiative of Federal Environment Minister Hendricks and in coordination with all parliamentary groups in the Bundestag, the legislative process has been sped up to ensure that the Bundestag addresses the draft law within the next week and that it is adopted next Thursday. As the Länder have all agreed to speed up the process, the Bundesrat will also address the law this week, on Friday. The law will therefore likely enter into force at the start of October, giving Germany enough time to ratify the Paris Agreement before the next Climate Change Conference.