The 'Paris Agreement' adopted in Conference of the Parties (COP 21) in December 2015 will be effective provided the document is signed by:

The correct answer is 3.

• The Paris Agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016, thirty days after the date on which at least 55 Parties to the Convention accounting in total for at least an estimated 55 % of the total global greenhouse gas emissions have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession with the Depositary. Hence statement  3 is correct.

Key Points

• Paris Agreement:
  • It is an international agreement, within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to combat climate change and to reduce, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Currently, 187 countries had both signed and ratified the agreement.
  • US President Donald Trump has announced his intention to withdraw from the agreement by November 2020.
  • Paris Agreement replaced an earlier agreement to deal with climate change, the Kyoto Protocol.
  • The key vision of the Paris Agreement is to keep global temperatures well below 2ºC above pre-industrial times and endeavour to limit them even more to 1.5ºC.

​ Additional Information

• UNFCCC - The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was signed in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and entered into force on March 21, 1994.
  • It is also known as the Earth Summit, the Rio Summit. 
  • It has been ratified by 197 countries.
  • Its objective is to stabilize the greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.
  • It is not legally binding in nature.