This figure depicts the rates at which global CO2 emissions must decline after 2024 to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5, 1.7, or 2.0 degrees Celsius without relying on net-negative emissions.[3]World map forSustainable Development Goal 13 Indicator 13.A.1:Green Climate Fund mobilization of $100 billion, 2018.Share of energy consumption from renewable sources forEU andEEA countries 2020 and 2021, compared to the national targets for 2020. EU28 (including United Kingdom) pledged an average of 20 percent renewable energy for 2020, and EU27 reached 22 percent.
Countries' targets for when new sales of fossil fuel vehicles should be prohibited:
2020s
2030s
2040s
2050s
Number of parties in multilateral environmental agreements[5]
Global climate targets are goals that a large number of countries have agreed upon, including atUnited Nations Climate Change conferences (COP). Targets often referred to are:
Targets for 2008 to 2012: In theKyoto Protocol of 1997, 160 countries committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5.2 percent over the period 2008 to 2012 compared to 1990 levels.[6]
Targets for 2013 to 2020: In the Doha amendment to theKyoto Protocol, slightly fewer I countries committed to reducing their emissions by at least 18 percent in the period 2013 to 2020 compared to 1990.
Targets for 2030:
105 countries promised deforestation at theCOP26 in 2021 to enddeforestation to 2030.[7]
105 countries[8] signed in connection withCOP26 andCOP27 a pledge to reduce methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030 compared to 2020.[9]
TheParis Agreement (United Nations Climate Change Agreement) of 2015 with countries' non-binding climate pledges, formally known as NDCs, and before the agreement's ratification for INDCs (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions), to keep global warming well below the 2-degree target by 2100, and that further efforts should be made towards a 1.5-degree target.
TheRepublic of Korea regularly submits itsNationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under theParis Agreement, setting mid- and long-term greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets andcarbon neutrality goals. Korea’s climate targets are discussed across various dimensions, including participation in international climate negotiations, domestic legislation and institutional reforms, and international assessments.
2030 National Greenhouse Gas Reduction Target (NDC)
When theParis Agreement was adopted in 2015, South Korea submitted a target to reduce itsGreenhouse gas emissions by 37% from the business-as-usual (BAU) level by 2030. In December 2020, the government submitted an updated NDC to theUnited Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).[10] In October 2021, under the Moon Jae-in administration, the NDC target was raised to a 40% reduction compared to 2018 emission levels.[11] The plan includes sectoral roadmaps for energy, industry, transport, buildings, and waste, as well as management of forests and carbon sinks.
2050 Carbon Neutrality Goal
In October 2020, PresidentMoon Jae-in declared in a policy address to the National Assembly that South Korea would achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.[12] The “2050 Carbon Neutrality Scenarios,” finalized in December 2021, presented two options: a “basic scenario” (phasing out coal gradually) and an “enhanced scenario” (accelerating coal phase-out).[13] In the same year, the Framework Act on Carbon Neutrality andGreen Growth was enacted, legally defining 2050 carbon neutrality as a national long-term strategy.
International Evaluation and Criticism
TheClimate Action Tracker has rated South Korea’s 2030 target as “Insufficient.”[14] Criticisms include the slow transition torenewable energy, continued reliance on coal-fired power generation, and uncertainty in industrial sector reduction plans. Both theOECD and theIEA have identified energy mix reform and coal phase-out as key challenges in Korea’s climate policy.[15]
An emissions target orgreenhouse gas emissions reduction target is a central policy instrument of internationalgreenhouse gas emissions reduction politics and a key pillar of climate policy.[16][17][18][19][20][21] They typically include heavy consideration ofemissions budgets, which are calculated using rate of warming per standard emission of carbon dioxide, a historic baseline temperature, a desired level of confidence and a target global average temperature to stay below.[22]
An "emissions target" may be distinguished from anemissions budget, as an emissions target may be internationally or nationally set in accordance with objectives other than a specific global temperature. This includes targets created for their political palatability, rather than budgets scientifically determined to meet a specific temperature target.[23][24]
A country's determination of emissions targets is based on careful consideration of pledgedNDCs (nationally determined contributions), economic and social feasibility, and political palatability.[25] Carbon budgets can provide political entities with knowledge of how much carbon can be emitted before likely reaching a certain temperature threshold, but specific emissions targets take more into account. The exact way these targets are determined varies widely from country to country. Variation in emissions targets and time to complete them depends on factors such as accounting of land-use emissions, afforestation capacity of a country, and a countries transport emissions.[26] Importantly, emissions targets also depend on their hypothesized reception.
Many emissions pathways, budgets and targets also rely on the implementation ofnegative emissions technology.[27] These currently undeveloped technologies are predicted to pull net emissions down even as source emissions are not reduced.
Many countries' emissions targets are above the scientifically calculatedallowable emissions to remain below a certain temperature threshold.[28][29] In 2015, many countries pledgedNDCs to limit the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels.[30] Many of the largest emitters ofGHGs, however, are on track to push global average temperature to as much as 4 °C.[28] Some of these projections contradict agreements made in the 2015 Paris Agreement, meaning countries are not keeping to their pledged NDCs.
In addition, it is uncertain how effective many emissions targets and accompanying policies really are.[31] For example, with countries that have high consumption-based carbon emissions, strictly enforced, aligned and coordinated international policy measures determine the effectiveness of targets. In addition, many ambitious policies are proposed and passed but are not practically enforced or regulated, or have unintended consequences. China'sETS (emissions trading scheme), while seeming to have an effect on reducing production-based emissions also promoted outsourcing of emissions contributing to a further imbalance of carbon transfer among China's different provinces.[32] The ETS evaluation also did not account for exported consumption-based emissions.
Many countries aim to reachnet zero emissions in the next few decades.[26] In order to reach this goal however, there must be a radical shift in energy infrastructure.[33] For example, in the United States, political entities are attempting to switch away from coal and oil based energy by replacing plants withnatural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plants.[34] Other countries like the Netherlands were obligated by the District Court of Hague to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2020. The Court has passed other innovations (Milieudefensie v. Royal Dutch Shell) to reduce dioxide emissions by 45% by 2030.[35] However many find this transition to not be significant enough to reach net-zero emissions.[34][36] More significant changes, for example usingbiomass energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) are suggested as a viable option to transition to net-zero emissions countries.[37][38]
^harrisson, thomas (2017-05-11)."Mapped: Climate change laws around the world".The database, produced by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the Sabin Center on Climate Change Law, includes more than 1,200 relevant policies across 164 countries. Retrieved2023-08-14.
