Comparison of Annex 1 and non-Annex 1 pledges under the Cancun Agreements

The report finds a robust consensus across four different analyses that developing country mitigation pledges are greater in absolute terms than those of developed countries. It argues that Annex 1 pledges are insufficient and could be further diminished by lenient accounting rules regarding LULUCF and surplus allowances. The authors conclude that current global pledges are consistent with a temperature rise between 2°C and 5°C, necessitating higher ambition and stricter accounting from developed nations based on principles of equity and historical responsibility.

• Across four different studies and 12 distinct cases, there is broad agreement that developing country mitigation pledges are larger on an absolute basis than developed country pledges.
• Current global mitigation pledges are insufficient to meet the 2°C goal and are instead consistent with a global temperature increase of more than 2°C, potentially reaching as high as 5°C.
• The actual mitigation effort of Annex 1 countries could be significantly reduced or even eliminated by lenient accounting rules, specifically regarding land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF), and the use of surplus emission allowances from the Kyoto Protocol.
• The report argues that developed countries bear a greater responsibility for mitigation based on historical emissions and consumption-based accounting, noting that developed countries are responsible for approximately 60% of global emissions when using consumption-based metrics and over 75% on a historical basis.
• Developed countries possess the vast majority of the financial and technological capacity to address climate change, controlling approximately three-quarters of global GDP and roughly six-sevenths of the world's discretionary GDP.

APA

Kartha, S., & Erickson, P. (2011). Comparison of Annex 1 and non-Annex 1 pledges under the Cancun Agreements. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/sei-workingpaperus-1107.pdf

Chicago

Kartha, Sivan, and Peter Erickson. Comparison of Annex 1 and non-Annex 1 pledges under the Cancun Agreements. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2011. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/sei-workingpaperus-1107.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kartha |first1=Sivan |last2=Erickson |first2=Peter |title=Comparison of Annex 1 and non-Annex 1 pledges under the Cancun Agreements |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=June 2011 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/sei-workingpaperus-1107.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kartha2011comparison, author = {Kartha, Sivan and Erickson, Peter}, title = {{Comparison of Annex 1 and non-Annex 1 pledges under the Cancun Agreements}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2011}, month = jun, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/sei-workingpaperus-1107.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }