The European Parliament (EP) should give its consent to the ratification of the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change, members of the Environment Committee (ENVI) have urged in a resolution. To ensure the agreement’s rapid entry into force, the MEPs called on all EU member states to conclude the ratification process prior to the next climate conference (COP 22), to be held in Marrakech, Morocco, in November of this year.

Separately, the MEPS called for the EU to upgrade its emission reduction pledges, to close the gap between the individual targets agreed by the parties and the goals of the Paris Convention. “It is unthinkable that the Paris agreement might enter into force without the EU as a signatory, considering the EU leadership on the fight against climate change,” the committee said.

Ahead of the November talks, the MEPs said it is regrettable that the sum of all the submitted Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted “does not bring the world even close to the two degree maximum temperature increase target.” Thus, they said, “there is an urgent and critically important need” for all parties to the agreement to raise their emission reduction commitments.

ENVI’s recommendation that the EP consent to the conclusion of the agreement was approved by 47 votes to one. The full parliament can vote and give its consent to the Paris Agreement only when an agreement is reached in the Council, it said.

The resolution on COP22 was approved by 48 votes to one, with two abstentions. The vote in the parliament’s plenary session is planned for early October.

The Paris agreement will enter into force on the 30th day after the date on which at least 55 parties to the Convention, accounting in total for at least 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions, have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession at the United Nations.

At the beginning of September, 27 parties accounting in total for 39.08 % of the total global greenhouse gas emissions had deposited their instruments of ratification, the EP committee said.