Take the case of the US. It has offered to cut its emissions by a mere 4% below 1990 levels. This too is predicated on developing countries like India, China, South Africa and Brazil willing to make similar commitments. Even for this meagre and conditional target, the US wants to take advantage of the cheap carbon credits it can purchase from developing countries instead of taking actions at home, which would more expensive and also impact lifestyles.
But all this is also not a firm commitment from the US. It has informed the world that it might alter these targets based on what its Congress decides in the future. Also, there is no time frame when a final figure would emerge.
Compare this with the target of 35%-40% reduction developing countries had demanded from rich countries to keep global temperatures from rising by more than 2 degrees Celsius. Read the full report here.
Source: Nitin Sethi, TNN, New Delhi.
