BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The United States and China formally ratified the Paris climate agreement on Saturday, as leaders from the G20 are set to hold their summit this weekend.
The announcement by US President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping came after the former reached Hangzhou, China to attend the G20 summit taking place over the weekend.
'I would like today to thank China and the United States for ratifying this landmark agreement-an agreement on which rests the opportunity for a sustainable future for every nation and every person,' Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said in a statement.
'The earlier that Paris is ratified and implemented in full, the more secure that future will become.'
The Paris Agreement was adopted by 197 countries party to the UNFCCC on December 12, 2015. They agreed to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future.
The central aim of the Paris Agreement is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
As of September 1, 180 countries have signed the deal and 26 parties have ratified it. The agreement will come into force 30 days after at least 55 parties, accounting in total for at least an estimated 55 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions, ratify it.
The next round of UN climate negotiations-known as COP22- is set to be held in Marrakech, Morocco in November.
China and the U.S. are also collaborating to secure an amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which is aimed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out production of substances that cause ozone depletion.
They plan to propose an amendment to reduce the use of chemicals called Hydroflurocarbons, or HFCs, that are widely used in refrigeration systems such as air conditioners and are potent greenhouse gases.
Both countries want to secure an internationally-agreed phase-down of HFCs and an early 'freeze' date, and the proposal would be made when governments meet in Kigali, Rwanda in October, Espinosa said.
The two countries, who are the world's top two emitters of greenhouse gases, also announced support for action on aviation emissions under the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) at its meeting later this month, she added.
The ICAO is discussing a market-based mechanism that can assist in encouraging aircraft operators to bring down greenhouse gases from planes. If approved, China and the U.S. plan to be early participants in a voluntary pilot phase, the UN official said.
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