COP26 Climate Conference: Countries cutting the most amount of emissions
With the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow under way, here’s a rundown of what other countries say they’re going to do – and how Australia is doing.
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COP26 has already achieved quite a lot on paper, with a number of countries updating their targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions in the past few weeks.
Besides Australia’s commitment to join the “net zero by 2050” club, New Zealand upped its 2030 cuts target from 30 to 50 per cent, South Korea announced a new 40 per cent goal, and Saudi Arabia and Russia both said they would get to net zero by 2060.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced India’s first net zero goal - for the year 2070 - at Glasgow on Monday night.
This group of new non-enforceable pledges follows a flurry of commitments made around the G7 meeting earlier this year, when US President Joe Biden said America would aim for a 50-52 per cent emissions cut by 2030, and Japan, Canada and the UK all updated their targets.
What is less clear is how all these nations will make that sudden transition to a low-carbon economy, although several nations including Japan and South Korea have signalled their intention to use less coal fired power. Like Australia, many nations are anticipating efficiency solutions from technologies that don’t exist yet, and plan to use offsets to counterbalance the emissions they can’t eliminate.
Of the developed nations, the UK arguably has one of the more detailed transition road maps, with firm targets for the uptake of electric vehicles, a ban on combustion engine care sales by 2030, subsidies for homeowners to move away from gas, a massive home insulation program and new investments in nuclear, wind and hydrogen power.
CUTTING EMISSIONS: WHO IS PROMISING WHAT
AUSTRALASIA / PACIFIC
AUSTRALIA
26-28% cuts by 2030
Net zero by 2050
CHINA
Peak emissions by 2030
Net zero by 2060
FIJI
30% by 2030
Net zero by 2050
INDIA
Reduce emissions intensity by 33-35% by 2030
Net zero by 2070
INDONESIA
20% by 2030
Net zero by 2060
JAPAN
46% by 2030
Net zero by 2050
NEW ZEALAND
50% by 2030
Net zero by 2050 (with exemptions)
SINGAPORE
50% by 2030
Net zero sometime after 2050
SOUTH KOREA
40% by 2030
Net zero by 2050
AMERICAS
BRAZIL
37% by 2025
43% by 2030
Net zero by 2050
CANADA
40-45% by 2030
Net zero by 2050
MEXICO
22% by 2030
No net zero target
UNITED STATES
50-52% cuts by 2030
Net zero by 2050
EUROPE
EUROPEAN UNION
40% by 2030
Net zero by 2050
RUSSIA
25-30% by 2030
Net zero by 2060
SWITZERLAND
50% by 2030
Net zero by 2050
UNITED KINGDOM
68% by 2030
78% by 2035
Net zero by 2050
MIDDLE EAST
IRAN
4-12% by 2030
No net zero target
ISRAEL
27% by 2030
85% by 2050
SAUDI ARABIA
No clear 2030 target
Net zero by 2060
Originally published as COP26 Climate Conference: Countries cutting the most amount of emissions
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