Climate action: Study says China, India making amends for Trump’s inaction
16 Nov 2017
Concerted action by developing countries like India and China have helped to abate the severity of global warming thanks to stronger climate policies by China and India that has helped somewhat offset US inaction under President Donald Trump, according to a new study.
The study, released on Wednesday, however, said the average world temperatures are still on track to rise far above the key goal set in the 2015 Paris Agreement of limiting warming to ''well below'' two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-1990 levels.
The Carbon Action Tracker (CAT) report, by three independent European research groups, said current policies would help limit global warming at 3.4 degrees Celsius (6.1 Fahrenheit) by 2100, down from 3.6 degrees (6.5) it predicted a year ago.
''This is the first time since the CAT began tracking action in 2009 that policies at a national level have visibly reduced its end of century temperature estimate,'' it said.
China is set to over-achieve its pledge under the Paris Agreement to peak its carbon emissions by 2030, it said. And India was also making progress to limit a surge in emissions driven by more coal use.
A rise of 3 degrees Celsius (5.4F) in average global temperatures could cause loss of tropical coral reefs, Alpine glaciers, Arctic summer sea ice and even an irreversible melt of Greenland's ice that would drive up world sea levels, according to a UN science panel.
''It is clear who the leaders are here: in the face of US inaction, China and India are stepping up,'' said Bill Hare of Climate Analytics, one of the research groups.
US President Donald Trump does not believe that climate change is caused by man-made greenhouse gas emissions, a convenient excuse for promoting US fossil fuel industry.
And despite a slowing of emissions growth in India and China, global emissions are growing. In India, however, the government has done little to stop the use of coal, which is the main source of air pollution.
(See: COP23: Developed world agrees to act on pre-2020 obligations)