Global emissions cuts could start after 2030

BANGKOK, Thailand — Radical emissions reductions needed to slow down a warming planet could take effect by 2031, six years after countries submit their pledges to the United Nations.

Government representatives are scrambling to craft options for the rulebook of the Paris Agreement — the landmark climate treaty that seeks to limit global temperature rise to well below 2°C.

In a meeting among negotiators on Tuesday, countries such as Brazil and Canada proposed an option to report Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2025, and communicate again by 2030 to begin the implementation by 2031.

NDCs provide an overview of the greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions cuts and adaptation measures each country is willing to commit.

However, China and India proposed different reporting deadlines for developing nations to allow flexibility. Negotiators from the US and Canada opposed this in another meeting Wednesday, saying all nations should follow one common timeframe.

“A regime that allows [for] the co-existence of multiple timeframes would jeopardize the environmental integrity of the [Paris] Agreement and diminish the effect of its critical components such as the Global Stocktake,” Li Shuo of Greenpeace International, said.

Other countries have also proposed to prolong reporting deadlines of NDCs to 10 years. Critics say this option could stall urgent actions needed to mitigate climate change.

“We are hearing more excuses than commitments. They are still debating when these [NDCs] should be implemented instead of acting now. We are moving too slowly when we only have two decades to act on climate change. This will be disastrous for people and planet,“ Aaron Pedrosa, executive director of BULIG Pilipinas, said.

The Philippines is in the process of creating its NDCs, which promises to cut its emissions by 70%.

The country emits less than 1% of total global GhG emissions. /ee