Labour urges Theresa May to speed up Paris climate deal ratification

Labour has warned Theresa May that the UK must hurry up and ratify the Paris climate deal before the year is out or risk being sidelined in influencing future action on global warming.

Writing to the new prime minister, Barry Gardiner said that the Brexit vote in June meant it was also vital that the UK demonstrated its continued commitment to international efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The intervention by the shadow secretary of state for energy and climate change comes just days before the US and China are expected to give the Paris agreement a major boost by formally submitting their ratification of the accord with the UN. As the world’s biggest emitters, their ratification would make the prospect of the agreement coming into force before the year’s end much more likely.

Donald Trump’s promise to cancel the Paris deal if he won the US election has added urgency to efforts to formally adopt the deal, which requires countries to curb their emissions to avoid dangerous warming.

Some 55 countries representing 55% of global emissions are required for adoption, but so far just 23 have ratified, representing 1.08% of emissions. The US and China account for 40% of the world’s carbon pollution.

Gardiner said that despite the anticipated US-China announcement, “the UK has not begun the domestic ratification process. If the UK lags behind its global partners, this would be greatly damaging to the UK’s strong reputation for climate diplomacy.”

He wrote: “It is clear that delayed ratification risks sidelining the UK’s soft influence on this defining security issue of the 21st century.”

While the UK negotiated at the Paris climate talks as part of the EU, which is a major emitter but not expected to ratify this year, it can ratify ahead of the bloc. France, which hosted last December’s summit, ratified in June and yesterday François Hollande called on countries to redouble their efforts to ratify before the next major UN climate summit in Marrakesh this November.

“It would just be really a great shame if Britain were not one of the first countries to ratify given we had so much to do with the structure and development of the deal,” Gardiner told the Guardian.

“We should be in the vanguard for soft diplomatic reasons as much as anything else, but it also pay dividends in terms of investment return, in terms of low-carbon investment and technology.”

Several major countries are expected to follow the US and China’s anticipated ratification, including Brazil, whose senate cleared the way for ratification during the Rio Olympic games. A source close to the international talks said there was a very real chance of the Paris agreement coming into force at Marrakesh.

“Early action is going to mean the action we have to take is less costly. It’s in everybody’s interest that this deal comes into play as quickly as possible,” said Gardiner.

A government spokesperson said: “Climate change remains one of the most serious long-term risks to our economic and national security and one of the most serious threats facing our world. The UK’s commitment to tackling it, internationally and domestically, is as strong as ever.

“We are committed to ratifying the Paris Agreement as soon as possible.”