Nicaragua signed the Paris climate agreement Monday, leaving the United States and Syria as the only two holdouts on the global climate pact.
The government of President Daniel Ortega said the global 2015 pact represented “the only international instrument that offers the conditions to face global warming and its effects,” according to a statement read out by Vice President Rosario Murillo.
Monday’s announcement leaves the United States and Syria as the only countries holding out on the Paris deal, which set measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent temperatures rising by more than two degrees.
US President Donald Trump in June announced the start of a three-year process to pull out of the agreement on the grounds that it would put the US at an economic disadvantage.
Ortega said last week that Nicaragua would sign the pact, but did not say when.
The tiny central American country had previously refused to sign the agreement on the grounds that it did not go far enough to combat global warming.
“We welcome Nicaragua’s announcement, which further underscores the commitment of the international community to take full responsibility for our shared planet,” said Elliott Harris, assistant secretary-general of the UN environment program.
“We must all continue to step up our individual and collective efforts to face climate change, one of the greatest challenges of our time.”
