3 February 2010, The International Herald Tribune

The climate change accord reached at Copenhagen in December has passed its first test as countries responsible for the bulk of climate-altering pollution formally submitted their emissions reductions plans, meeting the agreement's Jan. 31 deadline.

Most major nations - including the United States, the 27 nations of the European Union, China, India, Japan and Brazil - restated on Monday earlier pledges to curb emissions by 2020, some by promising absolute cuts, others by reducing the rate of increase from a business-as-usual curve. In all, 55 developed and developing countries submitted emissions reduction plans to the UNFCCC, the body overseeing global negotiations regarding climate change. UN officials said nations that had already filed plans accounted for 78 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The so-called Copenhagen Accord was pasted together in the final hours of 15th Conferenc of the Parties (COP 15) to the UNFCCC that ended Dec. 19. The agreement was not formally adopted by the conference, is not binding on the parties and sets no deadline for reaching a formal international climate change treaty.

Analysts said that even if all nations met their promises, the world would still be on a path to exceed the Copenhagen agreement's central goal of limiting global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial era.

But it was the first time that major developing nations put on paper their plans for slowing global warming. China said it would reduce its carbon intensity by 40 to 45 percent by 2020, compared with 2005 levels. India said its carbon intensity would fall by 20 to 25 percent and South Korea by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.

The European Union said it would cut emissions by 20 to 30 percent over 1990 levels by 2020. Japan's target is 25 percent over the same period. U.S. promises were ''in the range of'' 17 percent by 2020 compared with 2005 levels, pending congressional legislation.

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See emission reduction targets by country at the UNFCCC website