ROME -- The European Parliament has voted to ratify the Paris Agreement, crossing the final threshold to allow the Paris Agreement to enter into force.

 The decision was made for the European Union to ratify on Tuesday during a plenary session in Strasbourg, France. The ratification document will be deposited this week at the UN, which will enable the Paris Agreement to take effect 30 days later -- in time for COP22 in Marrakech, Morocco.

 The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said: “Today the European Union turned climate ambition into climate action.” China, the US and India ratified on Sunday and Monday.

 The EU, with 28 members, accounts for 12 percent of global emissions, which is enough to reach the 55 percent required for the entry into force of the agreement.

 As the EU parliament has approved, the bloc of countries will not have to wait until each country finalise the domestic approval procedures to join the Paris Agreement.

 The Union have targets to reduce greenhouse gases emissions by at least 40 percent by 2030 compared with 1990 levels.

 EU Climate and Energy Commissioner, Miguel Arias Canete, stated, “we have the policies and tools to meet our targets, steer the global clean energy transition and modernise our economy... The world is moving and Europe is in a driver’s seat, confident and proud of leading the work to tackle climate change.”

*  What is COP?

 The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) entered into force in 1994, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. The Conference of the Parties (COP) was designated as the supreme governing body of the Convention.

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