China Welcomes Russia's Adoption of Paris Climate Agreement - Foreign Ministry

BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th September, 2019) China welcomes adoption of the Paris climate agreement by Russia, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Wednesday.

On Monday, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree on the adoption of the Paris Climate Agreement, which means Russia's consent for the deal to be binding. The Paris Climate Agreement is now mandatory for 186 countries.

"We welcome Russia's accession to the Paris Agreement. We believe that this fully demonstrates [Moscow's] active position on responding to the threat of climate change," Geng said at a briefing.

He added that this step on the part of Russia would contribute to the joint efforts of the entire international community to address climate change.

The Paris Agreement, seen as a major international deal on climate, was signed in the French capital in 2015. The agreement, created within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, aims to keep the increase in average global temperature at below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels by means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In 2017, the United States announced its withdrawal from the agreement.