Mutharika signs Paris Climate Change Agreement

President Arthur Peter Mutharika on Tuesday signed the Paris Climate Change Agreement on behalf of the government of Malawi.

Mutharika signed the treaty at UN Headquarters in the presence of the Under-Secretary General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel, Miguel de Serpa Soares.

Speaking after the signing ceremony, Mutharika said there was need for the country to have a way of tackling the issue of climate change.

“The issue of climate change to countries like Malawi is a serious one,” he said, adding that it was for this reason his government was coming up with a legal framework to address climate change issues.

He said the country was not careful, it would continue to suffer effects of natural calamities such as droughts that often result in food shortages.
Stressing the need for the country to address climate change issues in earnest, Mutharika said Malawi was one of the countries mostly prone to effects of climate change.

“You saw how the country was affected by drought and its consequences,” he said.

On the treaty, Mutharika said it was an important one as it obliged signatory countries to cut carbon emissions, among other things.

Mutharika signed the treaty at UN Headquarters in the presence of the Under-Secretary General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel, Miguel de Serpa Soares.

Mutharika is in the USA attending the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) which began on Tuesday.