Post Copenhagen, 55 countries pledge to curb their emissions

In the wake of December’s UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, 55 countries, representing over 75 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, have pledged to curb their emissions by the year 2020. Under the Copenhagen Accord, the draft decision developed at the conclusion of the December summit, governments agreed to submit their emissions commitments to the UN by January 31.

Whilst the UN Conference was widely criticised for its lack of an outcome and the pledges that countries have made are non-binding, the UN’s top climate official Yvo DeBoer, said that "the commitment to confront climate change at the highest level is beyond doubt,"¹. He also sees “these pledges as clear signals of willingness to move negotiations towards a successful conclusion”².

Australia, USA, New Zealand, Japan, EU, Canada, China and India were among countries that pledged to reduce their emissions. Under the Accord participating countries have also agreed that:
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time;
Developed countries shall provide adequate, predictable and sustainable financial resources, technology and capacity-building to support the implementation of adaptation action in developing countries ; and
The critical impacts of climate change and the potential impacts of response measures on countries particularly vulnerable to its adverse effects and stress the need to establish a comprehensive adaptation programme including international support.³

Like many of the other countries’ pledges, Australia has re-stated its original, pre-conference commitment to reduce emissions. According to Penny Wong the Federal Minister for Climate Change and Water, Australia will not increase its emissions reduction target above the original 5 per cent unless:

The level of global ambition becomes sufficiently clear;
The credibility of those commitments and actions is established, for example, by way of robust global agreement at the next United Nations Climate Change Conference in Mexico, or commitment to verifiable domestic action on the part of major emitters including the United States, India and China; and
There is clarity on the assumptions for emissions accounting and access to markets⁴

A list of governments’ pledges under the Copenhagen Accord is provided below⁵:

Country	Reduction Range	Base Year
Australia	5% up to 15% or 25%	2000
Belarus	5% to 10%	1990
Canada	17% to be aligned with the US target	2005
Croatia	5%	1990
European Union	20% up to 30% developed countries commit to similar targets	1990
Iceland	30%	1990
Japan	25%	1990
Kazakhstan	15	1992
Liechtenstein	20% up to 30% depending on the commitments of other countries	1990
Monaco	30%	1990
New Zealand	10% up to 20% dependant on a comprehensive global agreement	1990
Norway	30% up to 40% dependant on a comprehensive global agreement	1990
Russia	15% up to 25%	1990
USA	17%	2005

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Post Copenhagen, 55 countries pledge to curb their emissions

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