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In a little bit of very positive news just before the global warming negotiations began here in Copenhagen another key developing country came forward with a clear sign of the steps that they’ll take. South Africa announced that they would slow the growth of their global warming pollution by 2020.
Specifically, they proposed that they would cut their emissions by 34% below projected levels in 2020 and by 42% below in 2025. This adds another country to the growing list of developing countries that have outlined clear steps to curb their global warming pollution (as you can see from my post: Developing Country Action to Reduce Global Warming Pollution).
As they said in a statement:
"This level of effort enables South Africa's emissions to peak between 2020 and 2025, plateau for approximately a decade and decline in absolute terms thereafter."
Back in July of last year, they announced that they would have their emissions peak and decline (as I discussed here and here) so this adds more detail to that commitment. They offered this commitment as a part of a broader international agreement and with support from developed countries.
This is a very positive step and will give a bit more of a boost to global warming negotiations occurring in Copenhagen. And with South African President Zuma announcing that he will also attend the Summit in Copenhagen another key leader has shown that he is committed to finding solutions to this important challenge.
* * * This post originally appeared on NRDC's Switchboard.
Jake Schmidt is the International Climate Policy Director for The Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, D.C. NRDC is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the environment, people and animals. NRDC was founded in 1970 and is comprised of more than 300 lawyers, scientists and policy experts, with more than one million members and e-activists.
