PRESS RELEASE

31 March 2015

Obama Fails Climate Test

Weak target and lack of finance risk UN deal
TODAY - The White House released a proposal for U.S. action on climate change that
it will bring to the table at the UN climate negotiations for a global agreement this
December in Paris.
The Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), as the formal submission is
known, includes a cut in U.S. emissions of 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025,
(or 14-16% on 1990 levels) but little else.
Responding to the announcement, observers of UN talks expressed concern over the
lack of climate action in the US proposal.
Weak 2025 Target
"The US proposal to the UN climate talks sends a dangerous signal that the world is
drastically off track to confront the climate crisis. No credible scientific assessment can
say that the US proposal sets us on a path to avoid the gravest risks that climate
change poses to our food systems. It completely ignores its huge historical
responsibility for causing the climate crisis. This is a proposal for more drought, more
devastated fish stocks, and more wars over water. The US proposal is an ingredient in
a recipe for disaster." Meena Raman, Negotiations Expert at Third World Network
said.
No finance and technology specifics
"The fact that the US proposal includes nothing on finance or technology transfer is a
deafening silence. How can poor countries confront this huge threat if the richest
economy in the world won't indicate how much is on the table to let them plan for really
delivering renewable energy or preparing for climate impacts in vulnerable and
marginalised communities?" Brandon Wu, Senior Policy Analyst at ActionAid
International said.
No detail on pre-2020 action
"The science is clear that this is the critical decade for climate action. People are clear
that they want to see clear specific actions today, like the vetoing of the Keystone XL
pipeline, and the banning of fracking. President Obama has missed an opportunity
here. The Paris agreement will be judged on what it does for climate action
immediately and with nothing here on tackling dirty energy today, or on scaling up
finance for the transformation globally, this does not bode well."
Janet Redman, Director of the Climate Policy Program at the Institute for Policy
Studies said.
The announcement follows those by the EU, Norway, Switzerland and Mexico which
together suggest the world is far off track from meeting the UN's agreed goal of limiting
global warming to 2C or having a chance of sticking to a 1.5C limit, which many
scientist warn is a more important goal.

It was also joined by a proposal by Russia to reduce emissions by 70-75% on 1990

levels by 2030, which much more closely tracks with scientific expectations and
demands of 'fair' action from each country based on historical responsibility for climate
pollution.
NOTES:
A website tool outlining what a 'fair share' of climate action for each country looks like is
available here: www.climatefairshares.org
The submissions from governments to the UN are available here.
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Alex Rafalowicz
+57 3183439284
alex.rafalowicz@gmail.com