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FACTBOX-Rich nations' greenhouse gas goals for 2020

by Reuters
Friday, 1 April 2011 05:06 GMT

April 1 (Reuters) - U.N. climate talks in Bangkok from April 3-8 will review efforts for tackling global warming after a deal last year to limit a rise in temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) above pre-industrial times.

The United Nations says the current pledges to curb emissions are too weak to limit warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, seen as a threshold to dangerous changes such as more heatwaves, floods and rising sea levels.

Following are industrialised nations' plans for curbing greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, submitted in March 2011 to the United Nations to confirm promises made in 2009, compared to their performances so far.

 

 

INDUSTRIALISED NATIONS

Cut by 2020 (pct) vs year emissions 2008 1990-2008

(mln tonnes) (pct chg) Australia 5 up to 15, or 25 2000 549.5 +31.3 Belarus 5-10 1990 94.1 -35.1 Canada 17 2005 734.4 +24.1 Croatia 5 1990 31.0 -1.4 European Union 20-30 1990 4,831.8 -13.4 Iceland 15-30 1990 4.9 +42.9 Japan 25 1990 1,281.8 +1.0 Kazakhstan 15 1992 245.8 -27.3 Liechtenstein 20-30 1990 0.3 +14.7 Monaco 30 1990 0.1 -11.4 New Zealand 10-20 1990 74.6 +22.8 Norway 30-40 1990 53.7 +8.0 Russia 15-25 1990 2,228.8 -32.9 Switzerland 20-30 1990 53.2 +0.5 Ukraine 20 1990 427.7 -53.9 United States 17 2005 6,924.5 +13.3 Note: 1990 is the base year for the Kyoto Protocol though some nations have chosen 2000 or 2005 as the base year for reductions instead.

 

GLOBAL:

Rich nations' pledges for 2020 so far total about 12 to 17 percent below 1990 levels, according to a Climate Action Tracker compiled by independent scientists.

Cuts from 1990 to 2008, the latest year for which comparable data are available, average about 8 percent, helped by a tumble in emissions by the former Soviet Union after the collapse of its smokestack industries.

A 2007 scenario by the U.N. panel of climate scientists indicated that cuts in industrialised nations' emissions of 25 to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 would give a 50 percent chance of limiting a rise in temperatures to 2 degrees C.

As part of that effort, it said emerging nations would have to contribute with a "substantial deviation" from a projected rise in their emissions.

NATIONAL DETAILS

UNITED STATES - President Barack Obama wants to cut U.S. emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels, or 4 percent from 1990 levels. The U.S. Senate has not passed legislation and public concern has declined. Obama set a goal this week of cutting oil imports by a third over 10 years.

EU (27 nations) - A unilateral cut of 20 percent, or 30 percent if "other developed countries commit themselves to comparable emissions reductions and that developing countries contribute adequately".

RUSSIA - 15 to 25 percent. Will depend on "appropriate accounting" for Russia's forestry sector, and legally binding obligations by all major emitters.

JAPAN - 25 percent as part of a "fair and effective international framework" in which all major economies set ambitious targets.

CANADA - 17 percent from 2005 levels, matching U.S. goal.

AUSTRALIA - Will cut by 25 percent if the world agrees to an ambitious global deal to limit greenhouse gases at 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide equivalent or lower. Will cut by between 5 and 15 percent if there is a less tough global deal. Australia's 2000 baseline is little different from 1990 levels.

UKRAINE - 20 percent, on conditions including that developed countries have an agreed position on cuts.

BELARUS - 5 to 10 percent, on condition of access to carbon trading and new technologies.

CROATIA - 5 percent, to be revised on accession to the EU.

KAZAKHSTAN - 15 percent.

NEW ZEALAND - 10 to 20 percent "if there is a comprehensive global agreement". Aims to halve 1990 emissions by 2050.

SWITZERLAND - 20 percent, or 30 percent if other developed nations make comparable cuts and poor nations act.

NORWAY - 30 percent, or 40 if there is an ambitious deal to limit temperatures to a maximum 2 degrees Celsius.

ICELAND - The government has adopted a 15 percent goal but is willing to deepen to 30 percent with the EU.

LIECHTENSTEIN - 20 percent, or 30 percent if other rich nations act comparably and emerging nations contribute.

MONACO - 30 percent; aims to be carbon neutral by 2050.

 

(Compiled by Alister Doyle in Oslo; Editing by David Fogarty)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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