How much CO2 are developed nations promising to cut?

Following is a table showing that developed nations’ plans for combating climate change fall well short of cuts outlined by scientists to avert the worst of global warming.

Current pledges by developed nations will cut emissions to 9.0 billion tonnes, a fall of 26 percent from 12.2 billion in 2010. The pledges apply for 2030 except for the U.S. plan, which runs to 2025. That leaves room for deeper U.S. cuts by 2030 that could push the total reduction to about 30 percent.

A 2014 report by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicated that rich nations that made up the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in 1990 would have to halve emissions by 2030 from 2010 levels to help limit warming to a U.N. goal of two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times.

Greenhouse gas emissions (millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, including land use, land use change and forestry):

Country 2010 Emissions If halved by 2030 Base year for pledge Base year emissions Planned cut (%) Target Year Implied emissions in target year Australia 569 284 2005 548 26-28 2030 400 Canada 775 388 2005 789 30 2030 552 E.U. (15) 3613 1806 1990 4130 40 2030 2478 Iceland 5 3 1990 5 40 2030 3 Japan 1235 617 2013 1343 26 2030 994 New Zealand 42 21 2005 48 30 2030 34 Norway 28 14 1990 40 40 2030 24 Switzerland 53 27 1990 51 50 2030 26 United States 5907 2954 2005 6223 26-28 2025 4543 TOTAL 12227 6114 13177 9054

SOURCE – Reuters calculations based on national submissions to the United Nations.
NOTES – Many nations are unclear about how they will account for changes in land use, including
forests that soak up emissions. Turkey, an OECD member in 1990, has not yet submitted its plan.

 

This article is published in collaboration with Reuters. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

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Author: Alister Doyle writes for Reuters. 

Image: The sun is seen behind smoke billowing from a chimney of a heating plant in Taiyuan, Shanxi province December 9, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer