{"id":2166,"date":"2009-12-07T11:23:45","date_gmt":"2009-12-07T15:23:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/?p=2166"},"modified":"2009-12-07T11:23:45","modified_gmt":"2009-12-07T15:23:45","slug":"esa-policy-news-dec-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/2009\/12\/07\/esa-policy-news-dec-4\/","title":{"rendered":"ESA Policy News: Dec. 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"policy-news-logo_s\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are some highlights from the latest ESA Policy News by ESA\u2019s Science Policy Analyst, Piper Corp. Read the full policy news here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

COPENHAGEN NEGOTIATIONS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The December climate summit commenced today.\u00a0 Of chief concern to the international community are numbers on the following two matters: 1) Near-term emissions reduction: President Obama recently pledged that the US will reduce emissions \u201cin the range of\u201d 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, on the condition that Congress is able to pass the climate legislation currently underway.\u00a0 Although a target hinging on congressional action does not put the Administration in as strong a position for the talks, the more cautious approach follows criticism about US participation at the Kyoto summit, where then-President Clinton signed a treaty that was later rejected by Congress.\u00a0 2) Aid to assist developing countries: One of the most complicated issues facing climate negotiators is deciding how to help poor countries adjust to low-carbon economies and prepare for climate-related disasters such as droughts and flooding.<\/span><\/p>\n

CHINA ANNOUNCES\u00a0CLIMATE TARGETS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Following President Obama\u2019s announcement of an emissions reduction target range for the coming decade, China said it would reduce its carbon intensity to 40-45 percent below 2005 levels over the same time period.\u00a0 This goal will require China to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 4 percent each year, assuming an annual economic growth rate of 8-9 percent.<\/span><\/p>\n

China\u2019s target received mixed reactions from the international community.\u00a0 Critics point to projections from the International Energy Agency (IEA), which indicate that China simply needs to follow the track it\u2019s already on to achieve the goal.\u00a0 Others touted the announcement as an important milestone, saying that the IEA\u2019s numbers are based on steps that China has already taken-instituting fuel economy standards stricter than those of the US, for example-as well as assumed investments and regulatory actions in the future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There is also some uncertainty about whether China will adhere to the targets it announced.\u00a0 The numbers, although domestically binding, do not constitute an international agreement. \u00a0Since all participating countries will want the Copenhagen talks to appear successful, China\u2019s actions have been interpreted by some as a political exercise.\u00a0 The international community will therefore look to the summit as an opportunity to determine whether China is willing to negotiate an international agreement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read the full Policy News <\/a>on the ESA web page.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are some highlights from the latest ESA Policy News by ESA\u2019s Science Policy Analyst, Piper Corp. Read the full policy news here. COPENHAGEN NEGOTIATIONS The December climate summit commenced today.\u00a0 Of chief concern to the international community are numbers on the following two matters: 1) Near-term emissions reduction: President Obama recently pledged that the US will reduce emissions \u201cin…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,91,48],"tags":[413,397],"class_list":["post-2166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ecology-in-policy","category-policy-news","category-ecology-and-society","tag-china-climate-targets","tag-copenhagen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2166\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}