The U.S. and China have joined the Paris climate agreement

Almaty. September 5. Silkroadnews – The U.S. and China, accounting for a total of about 40% of global industrial emissions of carbon dioxide, have formally joined the Paris climate agreement, BBC Russian office writes.

«The joint announcement was made at the G20 summit in the Chinese Hangzhou. Barack Obama, carrying out his last trip to Asia being a president, called the event historical and pivotal», the publication says.

The Paris agreement was signed by representatives of over 170 countries in December 2015. It provides for a commitment to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide into atmosphere to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C by 2100 and a plan to provide US$100 billion in aid to developing countries to solve environmental issues.

To come into force the Paris agreement must be ratified by 55 countries, representing 55% of global emissions. Up to this day only 23 countries – responsible for about 1% of global emissions – had ratified it.

According to meteorologists, in 2016 the average global temperature exceeded the average annual rate of the pre-industrial era by 1.1 degrees. The record temperature values have been registered for 14 months consecutively.

At the same time the sceptics doubt about the global warming being related to human activities and predict general climatic cooling after 2050 due to natural causes.