Myanmar’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, along with other Union-level agencies, submitted a proposal to parliament yesterday recommending the ratification of the Paris Agreement – an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The agreement was adopted as part of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in December 2015. It also seeks to prevent global temperatures from rising above two degrees Celsius beyond pre-industrial levels.
A message from President Htin Kyaw to parliament outlined the benefits of ratifying the agreement, saying ratification will allow Myanmar to receive financial and technological aid and opportunities for capacity building from international organizations to fight climate change.
Myanmar was among 175 countries to sign the Paris Agreement on April 22, 2016. It was the largest number of countries to sign an international agreement in a single day. The agreement has 197 signatories, 153 of whom have ratified.
Myanmar accounts of 0.01 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
While the US, India, and China – which account for around 40 percent of global greenhouse gas emission – had all previously ratified the agreement, US president Donald Trump announced last month that the US would withdraw.
Citing Trump’s decision to abandon the deal, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Saturday that Turkey would not ratify it.
Also in response to Trump’s withdrawal, Colorado governor John Hickenlooper signed an executive order yesterday that will make his state a party to the agreement.
