China's parliament on Saturday ratified the Paris agreement on climate change, the Xinhua state news agency said, which could help put the pact into force by as early as the end of the year. The standing committee of China's National People's Congress voted to adopt "the proposal to review and ratify the Paris Agreement" at the closing meeting of a week-long session, the news agency said. The United States, the second biggest emitter, is also set to ratify the agreement in a bid to put the deal into legal force before the end of the year. Before China, 23 nations had ratified it - including North Korea - but they collectively accounted for just 1.08 percent of global emissions, according to the U.N. China is responsible for just over 20 percent of global emissions while the United States covers another 17.9 percent.

Source: Thanhnien News September 03, 2016 01:52 UTC