Parliament approves Paris climate agreement

The Slovak Parliament has approved the ratification of the Paris climate agreement on Wednesday with 106 out of 150 votes. Once President Andrej Kiska signs it, Slovakia will have committed itself to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The agreement should be ratified at the EU level on September 30 at an extraordinary session of EU Environment Ministries initiated by Slovak Environment Minister Lászlo Solymos. One of the main goals of the agreement is to keep the increasing average global temperature below 2°C higher than the pre-industrial levels. The Paris agreement will become fully valid only if it's ratified by 55 countries that together produce at least 55% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. Along with the USA and China, it has already been ratified by 27 countries that produce 39% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.