--- description: Fijian lawmakers unanimously agreed last week to ratify the Paris Agreement, the landmark U.N. climate change accord negotiated in December. title: Fiji Becomes First Country to Ratify Paris Climate Deal image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Fiji](/tag/fiji/) ## Fiji Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Fiji Is the First Country in the World to Ratify the Landmark Paris Climate Deal ## Video: TIME Raw: Cyclone Winston Hits Fiji [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Raw: Cyclone Winston Hits Fiji](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YXpQq2tN.m3u8) (0:37)  _Published 2016-02-20_ by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 16, 2016 3:53 AM CUT by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 16, 2016 3:53 AM CUT Fijian lawmakers unanimously agreed on Friday to ratify the Paris Agreement, the landmark U.N. climate-change accord negotiated by world leaders in December, the _Fiji Times_ [reported](http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=341538 "undefined"). The island nation is the first to sign the agreement, which intends to stabilize the increase in the global average temperature. It needs 55 signatories in order to take effect, though experts are confident it will be passed, the _Guardian_ [reported](http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/15/fiji-becomes-first-country-in-the-world-to-ratify-paris-agreement "undefined"). Climate change is a pressing matter in Fiji and [other Pacific island nations](http://time.com/4143972/kiribati-climate-change-refugees-paris-sea-levels/ "undefined"), where rising sea levels have jeopardized the stability of coastal life and [cost](http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=256963 "undefined") the government at least hundreds of thousands of dollars in assistance measures. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4225155/paris-agreement-fiji-ratification-climate-change/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4225155/paris-agreement-fiji-ratification-climate-change/"},"headline":"Fiji Is the First Country in the World to Ratify the Landmark Paris Climate Deal","datePublished":"2016-02-16T03:53:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:05:50.523Z","description":"The agreement seeks to stabilize the increase in the global average temperature","url":"https://time.com/4225155/paris-agreement-fiji-ratification-climate-change/","keywords":["Fiji","climate change","United Nations","UN","paris agreement"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/fiji/","name":"Fiji"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4225155/paris-agreement-fiji-ratification-climate-change/","name":"Fiji Is the First Country in the World to Ratify the Landmark Paris Climate Deal"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Raw: Cyclone Winston Hits Fiji","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/YXpQq2tN/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-02-20T14:25:05.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YXpQq2tN.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4225155/paris-agreement-fiji-ratification-climate-change/","duration":"PT37S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4225155/paris-agreement-fiji-ratification-climate-change/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```