Emission reduction target gap remains at Bangkok climate talks
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Current climate talks have not closed the gap that could keep the world from getting warmer, an analytical paper released on Wednesday said.
"Bangkok climate talks have not changed the gap between emission reduction pledges and what is needed to get the world on track for limiting global warming to 2 and 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels," said Climate Action Tracker in a briefing paper.
Climate Action Tracker, which independently tracks individual countries' emission proposals and their global aggregate, released the report after developed and developing nations separately stated their positions on emission cut of greenhouse gases at two workshops on Sunday and Monday as part of the current climate change conference here.
To keep warming limited to the 2 and 1.5 degrees Celsius targets, global emissions needed to drop to 44-40 billion tons carbon dioxide equivalent per year by 2020, the paper said.
After adding up reduction proposals of individual countries and taking into account accounting provisions, expected global emissions left a gap of 10-14 billion tons by 2020 to what is required, it said.
"If countries implemented the most stringent reductions they have proposed, with the most stringent accounting, the remaining gap would shrink to 8-12 billion tons," the report said.
"No developed country attempted to increase their reduction target, as was requested in Cancun agreements and in the mandate for the workshop," it said.
The workshops and conference in Bangkok were the first climate change meeting sponsored by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for the year. The UNFCCC held its last ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico last December.
"All developed countries presented their already known pledges, " the report by Climate Action Tracker said. "No developing country showed an increase in the level of ambition of their pledges."
The climate change meeting in Bangkok, which ends on Friday, is being attended by around 1,500 participants from 173 countries, including government delegates, representatives from businesses and industries, environmental organizations and research institutions.
