(VOVworld) – On Wednesday French President Francois Holland signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Mhange, making France the first industrialized country to ratify this historic agreement. The ratification was formally approved by the French parliament last week.

A passenger airliner flies past a coal-fired power plant in Beijing, China on Nov. 13, 2014. (Photo: AP)

The Paris Agreement to curb global warming was adopted at the 21^st UN Conference on Climate Change (COP21) in December, 2015. Representatives of 175 nations, including the US and China, who emit large amounts of carbon dioxide, signed the agreement at the UN headquarters in April. Putting the agreement into force requires the ratification of 55 countries, who produce 55% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions.