Labour has warned Theresa May that the UK must hurry up and ratify the Paris climate deal before the year is out or risk being sidelined in influencing future action on global warming. Writing to the new prime minister, Barry Gardiner said that the Brexit vote in June meant it was also vital that the UK demonstrated its continued commitment to international efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The intervention by the shadow secretary of state for energy and climate change comes two days before the US and China are expected to give the Paris agreement a major boost by formally submitting their ratification of the accord with the UN. As the world’s biggest emitters, their ratification would make the prospect of the agreement coming into force before the year’s end much more likely. Donald Trump’s promise to cancel the Paris deal if he won the US election have added urgency to the efforts to formally adopt the deal, which requires countries to curb their emissions to avoid dangerous warming.
Guardian 31st Aug 2016 read more »