Russia pledges to boost industrial world cover by 80%

April 1, 2015

Atâyi Babs

Russia submitted its climate action plan ahead of the universal climate change agreement expected to be reached in December 2015, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said Tuesday.

“Reducing GHG emissions by 25-30% from 1990 levels by 2030 will allow the Russian Federation to step on the path of low-carbon development compatible with the long-term objective of the increase in global temperature below 2 degrees Celsius. This objective can be achieved with efforts of all Parties of the future climate agreement,” Russia’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution reads.

Apart from Russia, 33 other parties to the UNFCCC have submitted their action plans, including the European Union countries, Mexico, the United States, Norway and Switzerland.

In 2015, the United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held in Paris, which aims at achieving a legally binding and universal agreement on climate from all nations of the world. The Paris agreement will come into effect in 2020.

“The Russian Federation’s timely and welcome submission has added an additional and important momentum to this global effort. Industrialized countries are expected to lead the world in reducing greenhouse gases. I encourage the remaining industrialized nations to come forward with their submissions as soon as they can,” said Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC.According to UNFCCC data, the Russian Federation’s contribution means that two thirds of industrialized countries covering nearly 80 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions from the industrialized part of the world have now set out their ambition for the new agreement which nations will reach in Paris, in December and which will come into effect in 2020.Coming well in advance of Paris, these early Intended Nationally Determined Contributions bode well for the final agreement Ms Figueres has noted.All INDCs submitted by countries are available on the UNFCCC website here. A total of 35 parties to the UNFCCC have now formally submitted INDCs, including all countries under the European Union plus the European Commission, Mexico, Norway, Russian Federation, Switzerland and the United States. Mexico was the first developing country to submit its plan and today Gabon became the first African country.

In Paris, countries under the UN are scheduled to reach an agreement where every country contributes now and into the future, based on national circumstances, to prevent global warming rising above 2C degrees and to adapt societies to existing and future climate change.

Governments agreed to submit their INDCs in advance of Paris, ensuring that they were no less ambitious than previously announced plans. The UNFCCC will prepare a synthesis report on the aggregate effect of the INDCs received, by 1 November 2015.

Climate science is clear that Paris needs to set the world on track to a three-part objective, if we are to meet the 2C degree goal: a global peaking of emissions in the next decade, a deep de-carbonization of the economy world-wide and climate neutrality in the second half of the century at the latest.

The INDCs being put forward this year will clearly not add up to the total long-term effort to reach climate neutrality and Ms. Figueres has made clear that this is why Paris should reflect a progressive alignment of the global economy, over decades, to match what climate science is saying.

This needs to be supported by an enabling financial and technological framework and subject to regular and rigorous reviews from 2020 onwards. In both respects, governments already have a significant set of achievements on which to build to reach success in Paris.