IEA Says Emissions Plans Fall Short

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703562404575067660812697790.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

* FEBRUARY 16, 2010

IEA Says Emissions Plans Fall Short

By GUY CHAZAN

The pledges that countries have made to reduce their CO2 emissions "fall short" of what is needed to reach a key target set at the Copenhagen climate summit last year, according to a study by the International Energy Agency.

The so-called Copenhagen Accord hashed out at last December's United Nations summit said the increase in global temperature "should be below two degrees Celsius," and many climate scientists say that failing to meet that target would have dire consequences for the environment. But the IEA says in the study that the commitments made so far won't be enough to keep the temperature rise to two degrees.

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The IEA, which advises industrialized nations on energy policy, has calculated that all the action plans that countries have submitted so far won't stabilize the long-term concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at 450 parts per million of CO2 equivalent—a level that would translate into a two-degree temperature rise.

"The pledges made so far mean 550 parts per million and result in a three-degree increase in temperature,"' Mr. Birol said. "That's much higher than many countries would like to see."

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