IEA Says Climate Deal Should Include Legally Binding Status for National Emissions Goals

摘要

A global climate deal should legally cement national pledges that countries submitted to the United Nations this year, and should state a long-term temperature goal to put the energy sector on a low-carbon path for the future, the International Energy Agency head said Dec. 9. Speaking outside the Paris climate talks, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said energy is an engine of economic growth but also is responsible for two-thirds of the emissions that cause climate change. He said a global climate agreement that "does not have energy at its core" and does "not solve energy-sector problems will have zero chance of success." France's top environmental official, a UN climate official and a business coalition representative, however, gave different views about how a Paris agreement should treat countries' Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)-their pledges to cut carbon emissions, boost renewable energy and take other steps.