Today is the deadline under the U.N climate accord for rich countries to submit their targets in terms of GHG emissions, and for developing nations to declare their plans for reducing and slowing down emissions.

It turns out that the European Union has decided to offer their lowest target-a commitment to target carbon dioxide emissions to 20% below 1990 levels over the next decade. During the Copenhagen Summit the Union still offered deeper cuts, 30% of the 1990 level, under the condition that other developed nations set similar targets. The weak outcome of the summit and the accord to submit targets by 31^st of January, prompted fears that turned out true-that lower targets that originally planned will be submitted.
The EU letter, to be sent to top U.N. climate official Yvo de Boer next week, declares that the member states are committed to the 20% reduction target, with the conditional offer of 30%, provided other countries commit themselves to higher targets, too. But which country will lead the way?

Japan, for example, has stuck to its offer to cut emissions by 25% for the accord, but again on condition that other major emitters agree on an ambitious (and necessary!) deal. Environment minister Sakihito Ozaw was quoted as he talked about the importance for the greatest emitters, China and the U.S., to submit serious targets in order to cut CO₂ emissions and to slow down global warming.

The total cuts now offered amount to a mere 18% target as compared to 1990 levels. This falls short of the 25-40 %  that U.N. scientists outline as absolutely necessary in order to even have a chance to prevent the worst impact of global warming.

With these rather low commitments the planet is heading for a temperature rise in the region of 3.5 ° Celsius (as compared to pre-industrial levels), and that means that rising sea levels will swallow up whole nations, many species will loose their habitats (especially around the poles), freak weather on a regular basis and more calamities of biblical scales! Can we stop passing the buck to the next country and realize we are all in this together?!