'By ratifying the Paris climate agreement collectively, European countries have brought this historic deal into force less than a year after it was reached. Within the EU, Germany, Hungary, France, Austria, Slovakia and Malta - collectively representing 4.39 percent of global emissions - have ratified individually. The handover to the United Nations of a legal document formally doing that is expected to happen by Friday.
The Paris climate deal to limit global warming to below 2C will come into force in 2016 after the European Parliament formally approved the treaty on Tuesday.
The EU plan includes the United Kingdom, but it remains to be seen how the U.K.'s exit from the bloc could change the country's individual emissions policy.
The Paris Agreement, adopted in December a year ago, needs 55 nations that together account for 55 per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissions to ratify before it can formally enter into force.
With the European Union on board, the emissions total will cross the 55-percent mark.
With a decision in the last few days by India, the third biggest emitter, a total of 62 countries have ratified the agreement to commit to take action to stem the planet's rising temperatures.
Environment ministers from member states will complete the EU's ratification process on Wednesday morning, after which the 28 member states will join the US, China and India in signing up to the global pact.
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The seven European Union countries - Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Malta, Portugal and Slovakia - account for some five percent of global emissions. The EU had previously estimated it would not be able to ratify the agreement until 2017, according to Scientific American.
"They even started to question whether our heart was really in it", Miguel Arias Cañete, the European Union commissioner for climate action and energy, said in a statement on September 30th.
"The speedy ratification of the Paris climate agreement is fantastic news", he said.
"With the action taken by the European Union parliament, I am confident that we will be able to cross 55 percent threshold very soon, in just a matter of a few days", Ban said after European Union lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to approve the accord. "You now have an opportunity to make history by helping lead the world to a better future. let us show we are united". Under the Paris deal, America pledged to reduce GHG emissions by 26-28% below their 2005 level by 2025, using several existing usa laws including the Clean Air Act, the Energy Policy Act and the Energy Independence and Security Act, as well as existing and proposed regulations.
The EU ratification comes as good news for the Obama administration, which hopes to lock in the agreement before the president leaves office. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has threatened to pull the U.S. out of the agreement if elected, though he is now trailing in the polls.
The agreement is likely to enter into force before the USA presidential election on November 8.
The hope is governments will feel a "moral obligation" and "peer pressure" to act, he told Reuters.
