Weekly Chart: Emission Reduction Targets in the Americas
Weekly Chart: Emission Reduction Targets in the Americas
Who has the most ambitious climate targets? We chart the Americas’ pledged greenhouse gas reduction targets ahead of COP21 in Paris.
Before they get to the UN’s COP21 in Paris on November 30, each participating country is asked to submit their proposals for how much they will pledge to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Some countries in the Americas, like Mexico, took the lead and submitted ambitious proposals early and some have yet to submit. Parties had to submit before October 1 in order to be included in the secretariat’s synthesis report on the aggregate effect of all countries’ Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, or INDCs. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change released an advance version of the report on October 30.
In the below chart, we compare the percentage by which countries in the Western Hemisphere are pledging to reduce their emissions in the next 10 to 15 years. We also compare their current level of emissions to that target, as well as their population, to get a sense of how much each country’s target will affect global emissions. In particular, Brazil’s commitment to reduce emissions by 43 percent is the highest of those submitted thus far—and significant, considering its population of more than 200 million is the second-biggest in the hemisphere.
Elizabeth Gonzalez contributed to this infographic.
