Thursday, February 9 2017 17:58

ArmInfo. French Ambassador to Armenia Jean-Francois Charpentier has made a statement on the occasion of the Armenian Parliament's ratification of the Paris  Agreement on climate change.   

"I welcome the Armenian Parliament's ratification of the Paris  Agreement on climate change by a large majority of votes today. It  demonstrates Armenia's commitment to contribute to implementation of  this universal agreement and to combat the climate change by pursuing  sustainable and inclusive development," Ambassador Charpentier says  in his statement. 

To note, on February 9, the Armenian National Assembly ratified the  Paris Agreement (Accord de Paris) on climate change - an agreement  within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change  (UNFCCC). Armenia ratified the UNFCCC in 1993 and the Kyoto Protocol  in 2002. The documents provided for mechanisms for reduction of GHG  emissions and requirements for 39 developed countries. However, the  developments showed that developing countries - including Armenia -  should also join the process. The language of the agreement was  negotiated by representatives of 195 countries at the 21st Conference  of the Parties of the UNFCCC in Paris and adopted by consensus on 12  December 2015. 

The Paris Agreement builds upon the Convention and - for the first  time - brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious  efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with  enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. As such, it  charts a new course in the global climate effort.  The Paris  Agreement's central aim 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 above pre-industrial levels and  to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to  1.5 degrees Celsius. Additionally, the agreement aims to strengthen  the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change.  To reach these ambitious goals, appropriate financial flows, a new  technology framework and an enhanced capacity building framework will  be put in place, thus supporting action by developing countries and  the most vulnerable countries, in line with their own national  objectives. The Agreement also provides for enhanced transparency of  action and support through a more robust transparency framework. The  Paris Agreement requires all Parties to put forward their best  efforts through "nationally determined contributions" (NDCs) and to  strengthen these efforts in the years ahead. This includes  requirements that all Parties report regularly on their emissions and  on their implementation efforts. In 2018, Parties will take stock of  the collective efforts in relation to progress towards the goal set  in the Paris Agreement and to inform the preparation of NDCs. There  will also be a global stocktake every 5 years to assess the  collective progress towards achieving the purpose of the Agreement  and to inform further individual actions by Parties. The Paris  Agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016. Armenia signed the  document on 20 September 2016. As many as 129 countries have already  ratified it. It was stated at today's sitting in the Armenian  Parliament that the key source of GHG emissions in Armenia is the  energy sector (65% of emissions).  Transport and agriculture also  have a negative effect on the atmosphere.