How polluters fare with their Paris pledges

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has convened a new climate summit on September 23 as the world s main polluters remain well behind their 2015 Paris Agreement goals.

Here are where the main players stand in relation to the goals they set for themselves.

China

China is on track to meet or surpass its goal for carbon dioxide emissions to peak by 2030. Beijing has set a goal of 20% of its future energy mix to come from nonfossil fuels (renewable and nuclear). This goal appears more distant.

US

Under former president Barack Obama, the US committed to reducing its emissions from 26% to 28% by 2025 compared to 2005. But his successor, Donald Trump, announced in 2017 he would be leaving the Paris agreement (though the US remains a part until 2020), and immediately committed to tearing up Obama s plan, rolling back limits on coal-fired plants, vehicle emissions and more.

EU

The EU is committed to a 40% reduction in emissions by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. The European Commission predicts this objective will be exceeded, but wants member states to adopt a more ambitious goal: zero net emissions by 2050. Member countries have yet to achieve a consensus.

Carbon neutral

Two small countries, Bhutan and Suriname, are already carbon neutral, according to Britain s energy and climate intelligence unit. Several others have announced their intention to be by 2050 or earlier.

Here is a list of those who have codified that goal into law, or have committed to it as part of their Paris objectives,says climatechangenews.com:

By 2030: Norway and Uruguay;

By 2045: Sweden and the US state of California;

By 2050: Fiji, France (final vote in September) and the UK.

Adopting this objective does not signify a country is on track to meet it, as shown by the example of France. A government body ruled in June that the actions undertaken thus far were insufficient /

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