Where G2O Countries Stand in Joining the Paris Agreement

The Group of Twenty (G20) is viewed as one of key forums for the world’s largest economies to set forth joint actions on a range of issues, so the upcoming G20 Summit in China is an important moment for international efforts to address climate change. After all, key countries will be judged on what they are doing to address the gravest challenge facing humanity – climate change. So are G20 countries preparing to join the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change?

Here is where they stand on their public plans to formally join the Paris Agreement:

United States of America – President Obama has signaled that the U.S. will formally join the agreement this year and some news outlets are signaling that this may happen as a part of a bilateral agreement with China when Presidents Obama and Xi meet on September 2-3.

China – They have signaled that they will formally join before they host the G20 meeting (September 4-5) and some news outlets are reporting that they will formally join at the same time as the U.S. China’s top legislative body has reportedly started their consideration of the Agreement signaling that they may have their domestic process wrapped up before the G20.

Brazil – Both chambers of Brazil’s Congress have approved the legislation for Brazil to formally join the agreement and the Brazilian President will reportedly sign the bill in the coming weeks.  

Argentina, Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, and Mexico – These countries have publicly committed to formally join the agreement by the end of this year and are at various stages of moving that step through their relevant domestic processes.

India – Agreed during bilateral with the U.S. to work towards having the Paris Agreement enter into force as early as possible and has begun domestic consideration of the formal step.

Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey – These countries have made no official public announcements on their timing to formally join (or have sent very mixed statements by government officials).

Will any of these countries have great news to share when they meet over the weekend at the G20 Summit?

Once 55 countries that account for 55 percent of the world’s emissions have taken the step to formally join the Paris Agreement then it will enter into force. Over the past couple of months more countries have publicly announced that they intend to take this step by the end of the year. According to our tally, countries that account for over 60 percent of the world’s emissions have publicly announced that they will formally join this year. The G20 countries could play a critical role in helping to turn promise into reality by announcing at the G20 process that they have finalized their domestic process and are ready to formally join.