Friday, October 1, 2010

75 countries set carbon emission targets for 2020: UN

Seventy-five countries accounting for more than 80 percent of greenhouse gases from energy use have filed pledges to cut or curb carbon emissions by 2020, the UN climate convention said on Wednesday.
The promises were made under the Copenhagen Accord, the outcome of the global climate summit in the Danish capital last December, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said in a press release.
A total of 111 countries plus the European Union (EU) "have indicated their support for the Accord," the UNFCCC said.
Cobbled together in the crisis-ridden final hours of the summit, the Copenhagen Accord sets the goal of limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) and gathered rich and poor countries in specific pledges for curbing carbon emissions.
It also promises money: 30 billion dollars for climate-vulnerable poor countries by 2012, with as much as 100 billion dollars annually by 2020.
Critics say there is no roadmap for reaching the warming target and point out the pledges are voluntary.
The UNFCCC's official report on Wednesday on Copenhagen lifts lingering doubt that major emitters, including China, India and Brazil, would not give the Accord their political blessing.
UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said the promises were significant but had to be followed up.
"It is clear that while the pledges on the table are an important step towards the objective of limiting growth of emissions, they will not in themselves suffice to limit warming to below 2 C (3.6 F)," he said.

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