Improvement in warming outlook as India and China move ahead - NGO

15 Novembre 2017

Bonn, Germany, November 15 (Infosplusgabon) -  While USA climate policy has been rolled back under President Donald Trump, India and China have moved ahead, making significant progress in climate action over the past year, the Climate Action Tracker (CAT), an environmental NGO said on Wednesday.

"Actions in China and India have made a difference to the CAT's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions projections based on government policies currently in place, leading to a 0.2°C decrease in projected warming—to 3.4˚C by 2100, compared with 3.6˚C in November 2016," the NGO said in a statement.

The statement said this is the first time since the CAT began tracking action in 2009 that policies at a national level have visibly reduced its end of century temperature estimate and reduced the 2030 emissions gap between policies and what is needed to meet the Paris Agreement 1.5°C temperature limit.

The NGO said china's emissions growth has slowed dramatically:  in the first decade of this century, its emissions grew by 110%, but between 2010–2015, growth had slowed to only 16%.

China is set to far overachieve its climate commitment or Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

The CAT's estimate of emissions from China in 2030 is 13 GtCO2e—0.7 GtCO2e lower than its 2016 estimate. If China continues with its coal abatement, this could drop by another 0.7 GtCO2e.

It said equally, India has increased its climate action. If India fully implemented its Draft Electricity Plan, its emissions in 2030 would be 4.5 GtCO2e—almost 1 GtCO2e lower than the CAT predicted last year.

If it were to strengthen its NDC to match the ambition level of its Draft Electricity Plan, India's targeted emissions level would be moving much closer to the "1.5˚C Paris Agreement compatible" range. the NGO said.

"It is clear who the leaders are here: in the face of US inaction, China and India are stepping up," said Bill Hare of Climate Analytics.  "However, both need to review—and strengthen—their Paris commitments: our projections show they will meet them much earlier than 2030."

Niklas Höhne of NewClimate Institute added: "Over the last year, governments have made substantial steps in improving climate policies, and this has had a discernible effect on global emissions projections.  For example, in the face of increasingly cheaper renewable energy, many

FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/PLI/ GABON 2017

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