U.N. Pledge Offers Positive Outlook for Dynamic Climate Action-

Big carbon producing nations such as China, the U.S., and India, together with 52 other countries have submitted national climate pledges to the United Nations, inciting positive prospects for significant political action on carbon reduction. The pledges will be marked in the Copenhagen Accord, a non-binding political treaty to reduce the anticipated impact of global warming which was negotiated at the U.N. climate discussions December 2009. A deadline was set for January 31st, 2010; however pledges that missed the cut-off date can sign up at a later time. “We have all the world’s biggest polluters saying they want to work together,” said Jennifer Haverkamp, International Climate Policy Director for the non-profit group EDF. “This sends a clear signal that countries intend to stay at the negotiating table. The challenge now is to translate this will into measurable action and a strong global climate treaty.” Pledges have been already submitted from the United States, China, India, Brazil, South Africa, the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Costa Rica, Japan, Marshall Islands, Indonesia, Maldives, among others. The next conference will be particularly influential, and is scheduled for December in Mexico after various provisional negotiations take place throughout 2010.