UK Follows China Lead to Ratify Paris Climate Deal

But Trump’s surprise election victory shocked United Nations diplomats, and put the future of the Paris agreement in jeopardy.

Another issue, which characterised the conference a day after it started on November 7, 2016, and was raised at every media conference, was the election of Donald Trump as the American President and the uncertainty as to whether Mr Trump would withdraw the USA from the Paris Agreement and the consequences it might have on the agreement.

The surprise results of the U.S. election, with Donald Trump scoring an electoral vote victory over popular vote victor Hillary Clinton, has cast something of a pall over the Marrakesh summit.

$3 billion is now owed by the States for the initial capitalisation of the green climate fund, but it has only paid some $500 million to date.

More than 190 countries, including the United States, pledged in the deal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions blamed for rising temperatures and sea levels, worsening droughts and heat waves.

Bloomberg, however, isn’t waiting for Trump to make up his mind. A senior Saudi Arabian said the Paris agreement will move ahead with or without Trump. Uncertainty about whether the United States will honor its commitment to the pact became a central topic of discussion for the duration of the summit. “And we think that there would be a great challenge with ambition”.

And if he does, why would other countries, like China and India, the world’s largest and third-largest polluters, respectively, stay the course?

In a bid to fast-track the Paris Agreement on climate change by joining an internaitonal programme, New Zealand expressed its commitment to this accord today according to Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett.

China’s global warming pledge, for instance, was made jointly with the U.S.in late 2015. China has invested $384.7 billion in clean energy since 2012, and has been the biggest investor in green power sources this year, spending $48.1 billion compared to $32.6 billion in the USA, according to Bloomberg data.

“Heads of state can and will change, but I am confident that we can and we will sustain a durable worldwide effort to counter climate change”, Pershing said.

The Marrakech Climate Conference – the first major meeting following the Paris climate agreement – was held in Marrakech, Morocco from November 7 to 18, 2016. Whereas the Kyoto Protocol took nearly a decade to come into force, the Paris Agreement has taken less than a year. Paris may only take two years.