World leaders sign landmark climate change agreement despite concerns that their efforts will not be enough

The European Union and its 28 members will ceremonially sign the Paris climate agreement on Friday after a consensus on the conditions was reached in December of last year. Despite the optimism of the world leaders involved, many experts have since raised questions about the adequacy of the agreement, noting that the measures agreed upon in Paris will fall quite short of slowing climate change and that no country has yet offered a detailed or credible method or plan.

"The signing ceremony, the unprecedented number of countries that are going to sign is creating a momentum, but there is still a lot of work to do, not just in the U.S. but around the world, to nail down these domestic actions," the director of strategy and policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists told The New York Times.

While Friday's signing is ceremonial for Earth Day, there is an increased urgency to push the agreement into effect as nations race against the U.S. election season. Countries must now present formal ratification documents and the agreement will not take effect until 55 governments, representing 55 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, have done so.

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While this was at one time expected to take years, some countries are reportedly expediting the process to try to lock in the agreement before Obama leaves office. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have vowed to build on Obama's climate policy groundwork while Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have questioned the science of climate change and criticized the Paris agreement.