New York, USA: 350.org has issued a statement ahead of the formal signing ceremony of the Paris Agreement, scheduled to take place on Friday, at the United Nations headquarters.

The signing, the statement said, is purely ceremonial, as most countries still need to ratify the agreement at a national level, and added that the treaty will only enter into force when at least 55 countries representing at least 55% of global emissions, have ratified.

Ahead of the signing, May Boeve, Executive Director of 350.org, said that the formal signing of the Paris Agreement could be the next nail in the coffin of the fossil fuel industry if governments actually follow through on their commitments. “The growing and vibrant climate movement,” she said, “is forcing governments to bow to the pressure to break free from fossil fuels. However, there is still a dangerous gap between what the governments are signing up to, what they are doing and the real ambition we need to avert the worst impacts of climate change. The only way to achieve this is by keeping coal, oil and gas in the ground. As a movement, we will continue to hold governments accountable, ensure they ratify the treaty, go well beyond their current targets and accelerate the transition to 100% renewable energy.”

Stating that there is a need to maximise the current political momentum, Boeve revealed that Break Free, a wave of global mobilisation planned for this May, is at the forefront of capitalising on this opportunity, where local and international groups will be undertaking bold mobilisations to stop fossil fuel projects on six continents, in order to build a new kind of economy that is centred on 100% renewable energy systems.

“The fossil fuel industry,” Boeve said, “is pushing our climate to the brink faster than anyone expected, as record temperatures are proving, along with extreme weather-related events. We are all at risk from a warming planet, so we are left with no choice but to scale up non-violent direct action. As the transition from dirty energy to clean and efficient energy systems grows stronger and faster, communities and private citizens around the world will continue to hold decision makers accountable to their promises, and to science.”