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As Paris Talks Near, Emissions Pledges Fall Short
Last edited Fri Nov 20, 2015, 12:26 PM - Edit history (1)
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/543596/as-paris-talks-near-emissions-pledges-fall-short/[font face=Serif][font size=5]As Paris Talks Near, Emissions Pledges Fall Short[/font]
[font size=4]Heading into the latest round of international climate negotiations, renewed optimism around country emissions pledges is clouded by still-gloomy warming forecasts.[/font]
By Richard Martin on November 20, 2015
[font size=3]With diplomats and policymakers set to gather in Paris for the latest round of international negotiations on climate change on November 30, there is something new in the air: optimism. For the first time since the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, many analysts and stakeholders believe there’s a real chance of achieving a specific agreement on reducing the greenhouse-gas emissions that are already causing dramatic changes to the world’s climate.
That confidence springs, in part, from the voluntary commitments already made by countries that will participate in the summit, the 21st meeting of nations since the adoption of the U.N. Framework on Climate Change in 1994. The largest climate summit to date, the Paris conference, is expected to produce an agreement that includes concrete limits on countries’ emissions of greenhouse gases—a milestone, even if it’s not in the form of a legally binding treaty.
With the notable exception of India, every major country in the world has announced targets for reductions of carbon dioxide emissions. Known as intended nationally determined contributions, or INDCs, these pledges come from 161 countries that together account for 93 percent of global emissions.
Unfortunately, those pledges are insufficient to limit the rise in global temperatures to 2 °C—the threshold necessary to avert catastrophic economic and social consequences, according to the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The national contributions “bend the emissions curve down to a temperature rise of approximately 3 °C” by the end of the century, said U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-moon at a meeting last week of the Group of 20, an international forum for the world’s major economies. “This is significant progress. But it is not enough.”
…[/font][/font]
[font size=4]Heading into the latest round of international climate negotiations, renewed optimism around country emissions pledges is clouded by still-gloomy warming forecasts.[/font]
By Richard Martin on November 20, 2015
[font size=3]With diplomats and policymakers set to gather in Paris for the latest round of international negotiations on climate change on November 30, there is something new in the air: optimism. For the first time since the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, many analysts and stakeholders believe there’s a real chance of achieving a specific agreement on reducing the greenhouse-gas emissions that are already causing dramatic changes to the world’s climate.
That confidence springs, in part, from the voluntary commitments already made by countries that will participate in the summit, the 21st meeting of nations since the adoption of the U.N. Framework on Climate Change in 1994. The largest climate summit to date, the Paris conference, is expected to produce an agreement that includes concrete limits on countries’ emissions of greenhouse gases—a milestone, even if it’s not in the form of a legally binding treaty.
With the notable exception of India, every major country in the world has announced targets for reductions of carbon dioxide emissions. Known as intended nationally determined contributions, or INDCs, these pledges come from 161 countries that together account for 93 percent of global emissions.
Unfortunately, those pledges are insufficient to limit the rise in global temperatures to 2 °C—the threshold necessary to avert catastrophic economic and social consequences, according to the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The national contributions “bend the emissions curve down to a temperature rise of approximately 3 °C” by the end of the century, said U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-moon at a meeting last week of the Group of 20, an international forum for the world’s major economies. “This is significant progress. But it is not enough.”
…[/font][/font]
