Making good on a Jan. 31 deadline under the Copenhagen Accord, 55 countries submitted their commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the secretariat of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC).
Developed countries submitted emission-reduction targets for 2020, while developing countries submitted action plans for slowing emissions between now and 2020. These countries, which include developed nations such as the United States, Europe and Japan and emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil, account for 78 percent of global emissions.
That figure is encouraging compared to the relatively limited coverage of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The countries subject to emission-reduction targets under that treaty — all of them developed nations — account for only 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. And the U.S., the No. 2 emitter, has no obligations under the protocol because it withdrew under the Bush administration. It is significant that the U.S. and countries such as China and India, which also have no emission-reduction obligations under the Kyoto Protocol, have made commitments under the new accord. The Copenhagen Accord is a step forward for the worldwide fight against global warming.