Countries pledge financial support and target goals for climate initiatives
US$9.3 billion pledged to Green Climate Fund
Following its first Pledging Conference in Berlin, Germany, the Green Climate Fund announced that approximately US$9.3 billion had been pledged by the governments of 21 countries, including four developing countries. The Green Climate Fund serves as ‘a central vehicle for climate finance’ enabling industrialised countries to help developing countries with new finance for environmental projects within both the public and private sector.
Private investment flows are viewed by the Fund as a key driver towards ‘a low-emission, climate-resilient future’. As noted by Christina Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, “The Green Climate Fund is the epicentre that determines the direction of both public and private investment over the next decades.”
US and China announce GHG reduction targets
The US and China, two of the world’s biggest energy consumers and emissions producers, have announced their targeted emissions reduction plans for the post-2020 period. The new goals were revealed at a meeting in Beijing between President Obama and China’s President Xi Jinping on 12 November 2014.
After 2020, the US will lower its net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 26 – 28% below 2005 levels by 2025. The government has described the target as ‘both ambitious and achievable, grounded in an intensive analysis of what actions can be taken under existing law’. The plan will double the pace at which the US cuts carbon emissions compared to pre-2020.
President Xi said that China intended its CO2 emissions to peak around 2030. This is the first time that China has stated an approximate date at which its emissions will peak. China will also aim to increase its use of non-fossil fuel energy to around 20% by 2030.
Adapted from press releases by Louise Fordham
Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/24112014/latest-climate-financial-pledges-and-emissions-reduction-targets-897/
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