Rich nations could increase emissions under pledge loopholes, UN data shows

via The Guardian

June 9, 2010

Developing countries were today shocked by new UN data showing that rich nations will be able to increase their carbon emissions by up to 8% if they take advantage of a series of major loopholes in their pledges.

Instead of reducing emissions by a minimum of 30-40% by 2020 and holding temperatures to a rise of 2C – as many campaigners hoped the Copenhagen climate summit in December would achieve – many rich countries would not need to make any domestic cuts to stay within the legal limits of a new global climate deal being negotiated at resumed UN talks in Bonn this week.

The figures, which are far higher than expected, could be achieved by a series of carbon accountancy tricks and devices including:

• Selling “hot air” or surplus carbon allowances that were created when Soviet economies collapsed in the late 1980s;

• Using carbon markets to “offset” as much as 30% of rich countries’ emission cuts;

• Setting new rules to calculate emission gains and losses from logging and planting trees.

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