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1 [1] (September 22, 2014)

handle is hein.crs/crsuntaadqy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: CRS Insights Climate Summit 2014: Warm-Up for 2015 Jane A. Leggett, Specialist in Energy and Environmental Policy (jaleggettcr .v, 7-9525) On September 23, more than 120 Heads of State and Governments, as well as business, religious, community, and civil society leaders, will gather in New York City for limae Sumi 214. The Summit is hosted by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and branded as an event to galvanize and catalyze climate action. The meeting comes two months before the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)-the COP's last full session before it is due to agree, by the end of 2015, on measures to address climate change in the post-2020 period. Nations agreed to announce their contributions to this new agreement in the first quarter of 2015. The U.S. Department of State outlined on September 18 its proposal for certain elements of the negotiations, including a due-date of 2025 for GHG reductions and equal clarity from Parties about their differentiated mitigation contributions. While President Obama plans to speak at the Summit, a number of key Heads of State will not attend, such as China's President Xi Jinping and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Their absence may exacerbate concerns about their willingness to commit to GHG reductions necessary to slow significantly scientists' projections of human-induced global warming. Ban Ki-Moon initiated the summit because, in his view, 2014 is a pivotal year for generating the action and momentum that will forward to address climate change under the United Nations. His intention is to generate political will toward a meaningful universal climate agreement in 2015, and advance action on the ground that will reduce emissions and build resilience to the impacts of climate change. United Nations spokespeople anticipated that announcements at the Summit will be aimed at mobilizing finance for climate action, increasing the use of renewable energy, increasing energy efficiency, reducing deforestation, promoting climate smart agriculture, building resilience, reducing pollutants, and promoting climate action in the world's cities. The sessions on National Action and Ambition Announcements will spotlight leaders in a warm-up round before the nations that are 'ready to do so' announce, in early 2015, their intended contributions to the post-2020 agreement. Key announcements may be denominated in quantified pledges to abate GHG emissions on specified timelines, and to mobilize financing for actions of low-income countries. After the Secretary-General, the first speaker will be Environment Commissioner Connie Heddegaard, representing the European Union. The EU already has proposed a 2030 Framework for the region that would reduce EU GHG emissions by 40% below the 1990 level by 2030-an interim value on the cost- effective track toward its objective of reducing GHG emissions to at least 80% below the 1990 level by 2050. Among the approximately 120 leaders speaking, President Obama will present fourth to last. He may reiterate his policy goal of reducing U.S. GHG emissions by 17% below 2005 levels by 2020, then to about 80% below by 2050. He is unlikely to announce an interim emissions goals for 2030 or specific measures to help mobilize financing, as part of the multinational pledge by Parties, in the Cancun Agreements in 2010, of up to $100 billion annually by 2020. Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of China will have-both literally and figuratively-the last say. Without deep commitments to reduce GHG emissions in absolute terms from the rapidly growing, high-emitting nations, GHG gas abatement in the highest income countries would do little to slow global warming in this century. Many observers consider that the commitments of China, India, and a handful of additional lower-income high-emitting countries, will determine the effectiveness of the forthcoming agreement and continued interest in the United Nations process. Governments alone, however, have limited powers to reduce emissions and enhance the resilience of