Chile steps up.

Chile, which presided over the last round of climate talks, has joined only a handful of nations by publishing a more ambitious climate action plan for coming years.

Megan Darby reported on the news conference where a trio of Chilean ministers wore masks against coronavirus and promised the nation will peak its greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, two years earlier than mentioned in a draft proposal.

Chile has been among many campaigning for governments to submit stronger plans this year to the United Nations at the first five-year milestone of the 2015 Paris Agreement, although the exact legal requirements are murky.

So far, few have complied and the coronavirus pandemic is complicating many nations’ plans to raise ambition.

Before Chile, only the Marshall Islands, Suriname, Norway, Moldova, Japan and Singapore have submitted updated 2030 plans for action, according to a World Resources Institute tracker. Dominated by Japan, which faced criticism for largely reiterating pledges from 2015 – they represent 2.8% of global emissions.

The delay of this year’s climate summit, originally due to be held in Glasgow in November, to 2021 doesn’t affect the Paris request for all countries to submit plans “by 2020” – or 31 December.

10 April 2020

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