Leaders from 160 countries will officially sign the Paris Climate Agreement on today on Earth Day 2016.

"Earth Day is the largest, most recognisable face of the environmental movement," said Kathleen Rogers, president of the Earth Day Network.

During the Paris talks world leaders agreed to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, with developed countries providing $100 billion (£70 bn) of public and private finance to help developing countries by 2020.

The organisers behind Earth Day, which occurs annually on April 22, are hoping to use the 2016 celebration to plant 7.8 billion trees, divest from fossil fuels and make cities 100 per cent renewable.

"Let's take the momentum from the Paris Climate Summit and build on it," said the Earth Day organisers. "Let's start now. And let's not stop."

The deal was thrashed out in Paris last December in order to stem global warming.

Countries are required to set national targets for reducing or reining in their greenhouse gas emissions. Those targets aren't legally binding, but countries must report on their progress and update their targets every five years. The first cycle begins in 2020. Only developed countries are expected to slash their emissions in absolute terms. Developing nations are "encouraged" to do so as their capabilities evolve over time.

The signing makes this year's Earth Day one of the most important in years, and the organisers will be attempting to build on the momentum created by last year's Paris Climate Summit.

Five things you didn't know about Earth Day

1. One billion people across the world will get involved with Earth Day this year
2. The celebration has its own flag that features a picture of the Earth taken from the Apollo 17 spacecraft on its way to the Moon
3. 20 million people participated in the first ever Earth Day in 1970
4. No one knows where the name or date for the day came from as the organisers can't remember
5. In 2008 Disney launched Disneynature, a channel dedicated to environmental documentaries, in celebration of Earth Day

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