52 countries have already submitted their commitments to combat climate change
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To date, 53 countries (or 54 “Parties” if the European Union is counted as an additional party to its 28 member countries) have officially committed to reduce their Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) by submitting their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These countries - which include 4 of the 5 largest emitters - together account for more than 60% of the planet's total CO2 emissions.
The countries have agreed to prevent the increase in global temperature from exceeding 2°C. To achieve this, INDCs were created to set national targets for reducing GHG emissions through mitigation activities to be implemented starting in 2020. In other words, an INDC is a country's voluntary contribution to a global effort to reduce GHG emissions.
Contributions to date
Countries contributing most to climate change:
The most anticipated INDCs were those of the European Union, the U.S. and China, which together account for 49.92% of global emissions. The three UNFCCC members released their contributions in recent months and demonstrated that there is a commitment by the nations that contribute most to climate change to protect the planet.
The European Union has committed to reduce 40% of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. The countries agreed that there will be no going back on their contributions. This means that the level of ambition to reduce emissions will only increase over time.
The United States pledged to reduce its emissions by at least 26% by 2030 based on 2005. The fact that the US has presented a GHG emissions reduction target is already a turning point, as it had always been reluctant to sign an explicit commitment on GHG emissions reduction. U.S. President Barack Obama's latest announcement calling for reform to reduce domestic power plant emissions by 32% by 2030 from 2005 levels is, as he put it, “the biggest and most important step the United States has ever taken to combat climate change”.
The People's Republic of China has committed to reducing its CO₂ emissions per unit of GDP by 60% to 65% from 2005 levels, as well as increasing the nation's non-fuel energy resources by 20% by 2030. It also announced that its total emissions will peak in 2030. A few weeks ago, Chinese government official Xie Zhenhua said that the cooperation on climate change between China and the United States is very successful and could be an example for South-North collaboration in the field of climate change.
Developed countries
In addition to the EU and the US, several developed countries have submitted their INDCs. For example Switzerland, the first country to have published its INDC, has announced that it aims to reduce 50% of its GHGs by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, specifying that 30% will be done domestically and 20% abroad, given that the country is responsible for far more emissions than it produces territorially.
Canada and New Zealand proposed a reduction of 30% by 2030, based on a 2005 baseline. Russia expects to reduce between 25% and 30% of its GHGs by 2030, relying significantly on its abundant forests, while Japan has announced that it will reduce 26% of its emissions by 2030 based on 2013. According to Climate Action Tracker, the commitments of these four countries are insufficient to prevent the global temperature increase from exceeding 2°C .
The European continent currently leads in the number of countries that have submitted their contributions. In addition to those mentioned, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, Serbia, and Macedonia have submitted their INDCs, demonstrating that small countries are also committed to the global effort.
Developing countries
The African continent leads the way with five developing countries having already submitted their contributions: Morocco, Gabon, Kenya, Ethiopia and Benin - the last two being members of the Least Developed Countries group. For this reason, unlike all the other countries, Benin submitted an INDC based on specific measures and not on an overall GHG reduction target. On the other hand, Ethiopia, despite being one of the poorest countries in the world, was the most ambitious on the continent in committing to a 64% reduction of its GHGs by 2030 in a “Business as Usual” (BAU) scenario, i.e. with respect to projected emissions to 2030 under a scenario in which no mitigation measures are applied.
In Asia, in addition to China, the “tigers” South Korea and Singapore committed respectively to a 37% reduction by 2030 in a BAU scenario, and 36% of emissions per unit of GDP by 2030, based on 2005.
In addition, two Small Island Developing States, particularly vulnerable to climate change, submitted their INDCs: the Marshall Islands (Pacific) and Trinidad and Tobago (Caribbean).
Latin American countries
Mexico set a valuable precedent by being the first country in Latin America to present its INDC. It is a country highly vulnerable to climate change with per capita emissions of 5.9 tCO₂ and yet its target is to reduce unconditionally 25% of GHG and SCLP (short-lived climate pollutant emissions) emissions with respect to BAU by 2030, a percentage that could be raised to 40% on a conditional basis, subject to a global climate agreement with certain conditions.
Peru has announced that it will seek to reduce 31% of GHGs by 2030, and its INDC proposal is currently undergoing public consultation. Chile has also carried out a prior consultation for the presentation of its INDC, which will be released soon. Colombia will seek to reduce 20% of its emissions by 2030 and its contribution will be officially submitted by October 31, as is expected from countries that have not yet submitted their INDCs.
Find a free infographic with all INDCs presented to date here.
Source: COP Connection
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