Ban said a record-number of UN member states had signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in April and now the countries need to bring the agreement into force this year.
“I welcome the announcement two days ago by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India that he will join this effort,” Ban told reporters here on Thursday. Ban said that to help advance the process, he will convene an event during the September high-level week of the General Assembly for countries to deposit their instruments of ratification.
In a joint statement, Modi and US President Barack Obama said that both India and the US recognised the urgency of climate change and share the goal of enabling entry into force of the Paris agreement as early as possible.
Following the announcement, Ban had encouraged all countries to accelerate their domestic processes to join or ratify it.