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UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday welcomed India formally joining the Paris climate change agreement.
"India now joins the 61 other Parties that have deposited their instruments of ratification, which, including India, together account for close to 52 percent of total global greenhouse emissions," said a statement released by Ban's spokesperson.
The Paris Agreement, adopted in December 2015, needs 55 nations that together account for 55 percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions to ratify before it can formally enter into force.
"India's leadership moves the world an important step closer toward the 55 percent threshold needed for the historic agreement's entry into force this year," said the statement.
"The Secretary-General calls on all Parties to accelerate their domestic procedures in order to join the agreement as soon as possible this year," it added.
The much-anticipated Paris Agreement is the third international document on addressing climate change, following the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
