China and the United States lead the involved nations in signing the landmark climate deal. (Photo : Getty Images)
Environmental groups across the globe lauded China as it signed the Paris Agreement on climate change on Friday, coinciding with the International Mother Earth Day, China Daily reported.
The climate deal with the United States and 160 other nations was reached in December last year.
According to the environmental organizations, China's agreement to seal the deal "significantly increased the chances for the agreement to take effect before the 2020 deadline," the article said.
China and the U.S. account for 38 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.
The signing took place at the United Nations headquarters. On the sidelines of the event, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, the president's special envoy, also met with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other state leaders to talk about further collaboration.
Su Wei, director of the Department of Climate Change of the National Development and Reform Commission, remarked that the country will commence the legal process to join the agreement after the signing ceremony, adding that it will ratify the deal as soon as possible.
Countries that signed the landmark climate deal should have it ratified by their own legislative procedures. Other nations who still have not signed the agreement have a year to do so.
Before the agreement takes effect, at least 55 countries must ratify the climate deal. These nations represent at least 55 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.
Under the deal, nations eye to "hold the increase in the global average temperature to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to work toward limiting the increase to 1.5 C," the article said.
The environmental groups welcomed the initiative of both China and the United States to sign the agreement.
"These signals significantly increase the chance that the agreement will enter into force this year," Jake Schmidt, director of the New York-based International Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said.
"It is reasonable to think the entry into force would happen in 2017," Eliza Northrop, a researcher at the World Resources Institute, said. "But given the varying timelines for countries to complete their domestic approval processes, the timing of entry into force is uncertain."
Nonetheless, World Wildlife Fund leader Samantha Smith noted that more efforts are still urgently needed for the upcoming climate change meeting in May. The talk will tackle issues where the Paris meeting left off.
"We hope that leaders will not only send strong signals to their negotiators, but even instruct them about the key elements needed to give life to the Paris Agreement," she stated.
