Rich nations’ climate pledges amount to 15-21 per cent cut

Citation

(2010), "Rich nations’ climate pledges amount to 15-21 per cent cut", International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, Vol. 2 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijccsm.2010.41402aab.004

Rich nations’ climate pledges amount to 15-21 per cent cut

Article Type: News From: International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, Volume 2, Issue 1

The combined greenhouse gas emission reductions so far pledged by industrialised nations for 2020 amounts to between 15 and 21 per cent below 1990 levels, according to figures published by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

This is far below recommendations made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which says rich countries must cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 25-40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 to avoid dangerous climate change. The range for emission reductions in 2020 falls to between 13 and 20 per cent below 1990 levels if LULUCF is included in the projections. Russia, Canada and Ukraine are among the countries that have yet to specify whether their emission reduction pledges include LULUCF impacts.

But these figures should be considered as preliminary because there are uncertainties in many of the commitments tabled by industrialised nations. These include the planned use of Kyoto flexible mechanisms and accounting rules for the LULUCF sector.