Today is the deadline for countries to submit their greenhouse gas emissions cut goals as part of the Copenhagen Accord, and most everyone is weighing in. The U.S. has submitted our goal of a 4% cut by 2020 based on 1990 levels, or a 17% cut based on 2005 levels. The Maldives have submitted emissions cuts of 100%. And now India, a major player in the developing nation group, has submitted their goal as part of the deal. According to Reuters, India says that they will “endeavor” to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 20-25% by 2020 based on 2005 levels. All of this is in an effort to limit world temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) by then.

Cuts are being based on carbon emissions intensity, which is the amount of CO2 emitted for each unit of gross domestic product (GDP). India’s emissions cut goals, like all of the others, are not legally-binding. In addition, their emissions cuts do not include their agricultural sector. On one hand that’s fine- their economic situation relies more heavily on agriculture than many other countries, and a ¼ cut over 10 years in their industrial emissions is significant. On the other hand, agriculture produces a significant number of emissions, as evidenced by the recent Air Resources Board act that excludes ethanol from greenhouse gas emissions reduction plans in California. Ethanol is excluded because the agricultural production of corn created significant greenhouse gas emissions, and these emissions make it part of the problem rather than the solution to reducing emissions. Applying that same principle to India’s emissions goals, it’s possible that their numbers are skewed much higher than the overall cut will be. And what does “agricultural” really mean? Do machines and fuel emissions in the production of agricultural products get an exemption from the emissions cuts? Does transportation of the food cities? What about disposal? There remain many questions.
Yet, the number is important. India and China are the largest emitters in the developing world. So what is China doing?

China reiterated a their domestic target of lowering the carbon emissions intensity by 40-45% by 2020 from 2005 levels. They also said that they will work to up their use of renewable energy and plant more trees.

India’s pledge comes after a meeting on January 24 between China, India, South Africa and Brazil, where they discussed the global situation and urged all countries involved with the Copenhagen Accord to pledge and enforce meaningful numbers.

My reaction is a thumbs up, both to India’s number and to the fact that major “developing” nations met to discuss their position. The U.S. is doing little to drive the emissions reduction effort. Our number is not that impressive, and shows a lack of commitment to the cause, I think. We are being subtly called out on that fact by the meeting, and not so subtly called out on it by the countries of Europe.

While it would be better if India’s numbers included agricultural output as well, their commitment sounds genuine and exceeds that of the United States.

Photo Credit: World Resources (via Flickr under CCL)