US priorities at UN climate talks: a backgrounder

Author Gwynne Taraska examines the United States' priorities at the U.N. climate conference in Paris as the world's second-largest carbon emitter.

In the months leading up to Paris, governments have shown an unprecedented political will to address climate change. More than 170countries have submitted national climate targets. China, for example, aims to peak carbon emissions around 2030 and increase non-fossil energy to meet 20% of its energy consumption by the same year. The US, for its part, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 26 to 28% below 2005 levels by 2025.

Despite such political will, there are hurdles to reaching a final agreement. Key questions remain, such as how to address international climate finance and how to acknowledge that participating countries are at different stages of development with different capacities to address climate change.

The above excerpt was originally published in chinadialogue. Click here to view the full article.

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