Over 130 countries to sign climate accord, smashing U.N. record

The previous record was set when 119 countries signed onto the Convention on the Law of the Sea on Dec. 10, 1982, the first day it opened for signatures.

"More than 130 countries have confirmed that they will sign the Paris Agreement," the world body said in a press release about the accord that aims to hold global average temperatures rises to "well below" 2 C above preindustrial levels.

Over 60 countries are so far expected to send their heads of state or government, "demonstrating the continued high level of engagement by world leaders to accept and implement" the agreement, the release said.

French President Francois Hollande, who played an instrumental role in brokering the Paris Agreement last December to avert the serious consequences scientists say are being brought by climate change, will attend along with other high-profile leaders, such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

From Japan it has been announced that Environment Minister Tamayo Marukawa would participate in the daylong event.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping, after recent talks in Washington on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit, in a joint statement said their countries would sign the agreement and implement it "as early as possible."

The United Nations could not confirm who would be representing the countries.

The agreement enters into force a month after at least 55 countries, accounting for 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, deposit their instruments of ratification or acceptance with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.

"Paris was historic," Ban said in the press release. "But it's only the beginning. We must urgently accelerate our efforts to tackle climate change."