US climate plan submitted to UN
The US shared its view of what policies should be included in the new binding United Nations (UN) climate treaty.
Countries are looking ahead to design a plan to replace the expiring Kyoto Protocol which established the first international climate plan in 1997.
The UN has set a deadline to approve a plan for enforceable international emissions reductions at the annual UN Climate Conference in 2015. These policies will not go into effect in 2020, however.
Some of the elements that the US wants in the new climate agreement include a shared timeframe for all members and a system to quantify specific emissions reductions.
This framework will include major emitters like the US, China, the European Union, and India as well as developing nations.
As the first nation to share its vision for the international climate agreement, the US is demonstrating its commitment to address its emissions which totaled over 6.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide in 2011.
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