Canada Ratifies Paris Climate Accord

OTTAWA, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 06th Oct, 2016 ) - Canada ratified the landmark Paris climate accord on Wednesday despite significant domestic pushback over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's carbon price proposal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The 207-to-81 vote in the House of Commons came 30 days before the pact comes into force globally, and brings the total number of nations that have endorsed it to 74. Parliamentarians split along party lines, with Trudeau using his Liberal majority to push through ratification as the opposition Tories accused the government of heavy-handedness and betrayal.

The Paris accord requires all countries to devise plans to achieve the goal of keeping the rise in temperatures within two degrees Celsius (3.

6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels and strive for 1.5 C (2.7 F) if possible.

Last year Trudeau reached out to Canada's 13 provinces and territories, which share responsibility for the environment with Ottawa, to hammer out a national climate strategy. But each insisted they would tailor plans for their respective regions, which have vastly different economic circumstances and goals.

In a bid to break the deadlock, Trudeau on Monday warned that he was prepared to impose a national minimum carbon price if a deal was not reached with the regional governments soon. He proposed a minimum price of Can$10 (US$7.60) per tonne of carbon pollution in 2018, rising incrementally over five years to Can$50 per tonne.