In a time where climate change is very present in the news. It’s something that has been talked about for some time, but now it seems to be reaching an all-time high. World leaders are pledging more than ever to combat climate change, and while this is not enough, it is still better than nothing. This article will take you through what they pledged on Tuesday at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poland.
Pledges to combat climate change are being made by more than 100 world leaders at the COP24 summit in Poland, with countries promising more ambitious emissions cuts. President Emmanuel Macron of France said that he aims for “carbon neutrality” within the next 10 years. Leaders also agreed on measures to monitor their progress before 2020. However, some people are saying that the most ambitious of these pledges are still not enough to limit global warming.
Another challenge was presented by poor countries which are most affected by climate change but have done little to create it, they said they do not have funds for making these changes. “We can now say with confidence that we have turned the corner on the fight against climate change. We are well on our way to achieving sustainable development, but we must also address the climate challenge,” said Polish President Andrzej Duda who is presiding over the talks.
As it has been mentioned before this summit will take place in Poland, where during COP meetings it is common for countries to make pledges to reduce their emissions. But what exactly did they pledge? Well, here’s a list:
-France announced that it will ban sales of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040.
-China will reduce its carbon intensity (the amount of CO2 emitted per unit of GDP growth) by 60% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.
-Brazil has plans to reduce 37% of its emissions by 2025.
-New Zealand has pledged to be net zero by 2050, meaning it will remove as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it emits.
-The UK announced that it would increase funds set aside for tackling climate change to 1 billion pounds ($1.2 bn) annually into 2021.
-The US, the second largest climate polluter after China, said that it is still committed to reducing emissions by 2025 despite President Trump’s plan to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement in 2017.
All of this was decided during COP24, an international conference held annually since 1995 within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate.
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