Japan ratified the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement to decrease emissions and prevent climate change, four days after the global pact officially entered into effect.
Paris agreement seeks to wean the world economy off fossil fuels in the second half of the century, limiting the rise in average world temperatures to well below 2.0 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times.
The delay in ratification could limit Japan’s ability to influence negotiations on the minor details of the agreement. Those talks were set to formally begin during the COP-22 meeting in Morocco.
Representatives from nearly 200 countries convened in Marrakesh, Morocco for two weeks to discuss the details of the Paris agreement and the policies, technology and finance needed to ensure the objectives are achieved.
The agreement is meant to decrease global greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels, to limit floods, droughts and rising ocean levels.
