Nations' Climate Pledges Set Course for Disastrous Warming
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- Published on Wednesday, 09 September 2015 23:00
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 1160 .... September 10, 2015
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Nations' Climate Pledges Set Course for Disastrous Warming
Andrea Germanos
Greenhouse gas reduction pledges countries have submitted to the United Nations in advance of global climate talks set the planet on a path that keeps critical climate goals out of reach. That's according to the Climate Action Tracker (CAT), a project of four research organizations that assesses nations' climate pledges and actions. It released its findings Wednesday [September 2] as talks are underway in Bonn, Germany, where global delegates are working to streamline the draft text for the UN climate change summit in Paris in December, known as COP21.
"One would have expected all the new Government climate targets combined to put the world on a lower emissions pathway, but they haven't," said Louise... Jeffery of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
CAT analyzed what are called Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) submitted by 15 governments, which together cover 64.5% of global emissions. Taken collectively, their plans would fail to avert a potentially disastrous level of warming, the analysis found.
"It is clear that if the Paris meeting locks in present climate commitments for 2030, holding warming below 2 degrees C could essentially become infeasible, and 1.5C beyond reach," said Bill Hare of Climate Analytics, which joins the Potsdam Institute as one of the four organizations comprising CAT. It classified seven of the INDCs as inadequate, six as medium, and two as sufficient.
