UN predicts 155 countries will sign climate agreement come April 22

A record 155 countries will sign the landmark agreement to tackle climate change at a ceremony at UN headquarters on April 22, the United Nations said on Friday. UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said that five countries - Barbados, Belize, Tuvalu, Maldives and Samoa - will not only sign the agreement reached in Paris in December but deliver their ratification. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, French President Francois Hollande and French Environment Minister Segolene Royal, who is in charge of global climate negotiations, have invited leaders from all 193 UN member states to the event. The UN says more than 60 heads of state and government plan to attend. The current record of 119 signatures on the opening day for signing an international agreement is held by the Law of the Sea treaty in 1994.
The agreement sets a collective goal of keeping global warming below 2°C compared to pre-industrial times, and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature rise to 1.5°C. It requires all countries to submit plans for climate action and to update them every five years, though such plans are not legally binding. Secretary-General Ban has stressed that the signing ceremony is just a first step in accelerating efforts to tackle climate change.