Scientists call for stronger pledges under the Paris Convention to curb climate change

The vast majority of commitments made by countries in the 2015 Paris climate agreement are insufficient to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, scientists said on Friday. They singled out the world's top emitters of greenhouse gas emissions from those that should boost their contributions.

"Governments are moving in the right direction, but they are not in any way close to what they should do, so we hope they are ready to make stronger commitments," said Robert Watson, head of the team that prepared the report for the global nonprofit fund. United Nations Climate Summit in Spain, next month.

The report rated about 75 percent of pledges, or 136 pledges, as insufficient, including those made by the world's top carbon emitters - China, the United States and India. The report noted that 12 commitments made by countries including Australia, Japan and Brazil were partially inadequate.

At a summit in Madrid next month, the countries will discuss some details of the international agreement to curb global warming. Chile withdrew from hosting the summit after weeks of rioting to protest inequality.

Of the 184 pledges made by countries under the climate agreement, only 36 are ambitious enough to help meet the agreement's goal of keeping the Earth's temperature below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the report said. Most of the 36 pledges came from countries in the European Union.

Withdrawal Trump administration

The administration of US President Donald Trump has said it has submitted the necessary paperwork for the US withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, the first official step in a year-long process to get out of the global deal, which aims to combat climate change.

The United States will be the only country outside the agreement once it exits. It is one of the most emitters of greenhouse gases and a prominent oil and gas producer.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed the move yesterday through a post on Twitter, noting that the United States has cut emissions in recent years, despite growing production in the energy sector.

"The United States is proud of our pioneering record in reducing all emissions, establishing the concept of flexibility, developing our economy and ensuring energy for our children," he said. The European Union expressed its dissatisfaction.

Intensify cooperation

"The US withdrawal from the Paris agreement means that the rest must intensify cooperation further," said Krista Mikonen, Finland's environment and climate minister, who holds the EU's rotating presidency. "We will continue to work with states, cities and civil society in the United States to support climate action," she said.

"We regret this," said an official from the French presidential office accompanying President Emmanuel Macron on a state visit to China. "This makes the Franco-Chinese partnership on climate and biodiversity more urgent."

The State Department's letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres begins a process that will be completed a day after next year's US presidential election.

All prominent Democrats, who are seeking to take the presidency from Trump, have vowed to return to the Paris agreement if they win. But Andrew Light, a fellow at the World Resources Institute and adviser to US climate envoy under former Democratic President Barack Obama, said the US withdrawal would leave an indelible scar.

"While this meets the political needs of the Trump administration, we will lose a lot in terms of US influence on the world stage," he said.

The Obama administration signed the agreement in 2015 and has pledged to cut US greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28 percent by 2025 from 2005 levels.

Trump campaigned on a pledge to drop that promise, which he said harms the US economy, and leaves other major polluters, such as China, increasing their emissions unchecked. He was obliged under the UN rules to wait until November 4, 2019 to present the exit papers.

• The United States will soon become the only country outside the agreement, one of the most greenhouse gas emitters, and a prominent oil and gas producer.