|
The EU is in danger of being overtaken by Australia and Japan
in pledging tougher targets for reducing the greenhouse gas
emissions blamed by scientists for causing climate change,
according to an analysis of the most recent pledges.
The analysis by Point
Carbon - a leading independent provider of market
intelligence on energy and the environment - examined pledges
made by 65 countries under the Copenhagen Accord, which was
the outcome of last December’s UN climate summit.
“Even if the EU were to increase its emissions reduction
target to 30 per cent of 1990 levels, Japan and Australia
are still pledging larger cuts from current emission levels,”
said Kjetil Røine, Point Carbon’s manager. “The EU is lagging
behind.”
Japan has pledged the most ambitious 2020 target among developed
countries - with a 31 per cent reduction on 2007 levels -
while Australia’s proposed range represents a 13-31 per cent
reduction on 2007, with the upper range as ambitious as Japan’s.
Mr Røine said the EU’s 20 per cent target was also weaker
than the pledges from the US and Canada - respectively, a
17 per cent and 19 per cent reduction on 2007 levels, which
were made in submissions to the UN climate change convention’s
secretariat in Bonn.
“We should, however, bear in mind that these are just non-binding
pledges [made under the Copenhagen Accord] and the EU is far
more advanced when it comes to the implementation of policies
and measures to reduce emissions,” he added.
China has pledged to reduce the emissions intensity of its
economy by 40 to 45 per cent on 2005 levels by 2020, while
India’s target to reduce intensity by 20 to 25 per cent by
2020 falls “short of the Chinese pledge”, said Mr Røine.
The fact that 65 countries had submitted targets and actions
to be included in annexes to the Copenhagen Accord was an
“indication that there is overall support for continuing negotiations
and that there is still political will to reach an agreement”,
he added.
UN climate chief Yvo de Boer said the pledges made so far
came from countries that together accounted for almost 80
per cent of global emissions from energy use. “This represents
an important invigoration of the UN climate change talks,”
he said.
“The commitment to confront climate change at the highest
level is beyond doubt .. Greater ambition is required to meet
the scale of the challenge. But I see these pledges as clear
signals of willingness to move negotiations towards a successful
conclusion.”
However, Greenpeace International was not so optimistic.
It said the pledges made since the Copenhagen summit showed
a “slackening” of effort by governments on limiting the increase
in global temperature to 2°C.
“These commitments mean an average global temperature increase
of more than 3°C, compared to pre-industrial times,” said
Bernhard Obermayr, of Greenpeace. If this happened, “the environmental
and social implications could be catastrophic”.
If developed and developing countries failed to outline how
they were going to prevent warming from reaching the agreed
threshold of 2°C, “concerned citizens will realise they
have just been sold the biggest climate lie of all”, he added.
Source - The Irish Times
|
