Slovakia to promote ratification of Paris Treaty this year

Slovakia as the presiding country of the EU will strive to see the Paris Climate Agreement ratified as early as this year, announced Slovak Environment Minister Laszlo Solymos after an informal meeting of EU environment ministers on climate change here Tuesday.

"It's important material and the EU mustn't lose its drive that appeared during talks on this agreement," said Solymos in reference to the Paris Agreement at a press conference.

The agreement was adopted at the Paris climate conference in December 2015, with 195 countries agreeing on the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal.

Its main goals include keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, while the aim is to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. It was stated at the Paris conference that this would significantly reduce risks and the impacts of climate change.

The document will become fully effective only if it's ratified by 55 countries that produce at least 55 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, according to a list from 2015.

"Of course, the EU is one of the global leaders, who'd like to contribute towards the agreement entering into force as soon as possible," explained Slovak EU Commission Vice-president for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic. Enditem