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

The report finds a robust consensus across four analyzed studies that developing country mitigation pledges are greater in absolute terms than those of developed countries. It argues that developed country pledges are insufficient and could be further eroded by lenient accounting rules regarding land use and surplus allowances. The analysis concludes that current global pledges are consistent with temperature rises between 2°C and 5°C, necessitating higher ambition from developed nations based on principles of equity and historical responsibility.

• There is consistent agreement across four different studies and 12 various cases that developing country mitigation pledges represent a greater absolute amount of mitigation than developed country pledges.
• Current global mitigation pledges are insufficient to meet the 2°C target and are instead aligned 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 due to lenient accounting rules, particularly regarding the use of surplus emission allowances and land-use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF) accounting.
• The report argues that developed countries bear a greater responsibility for climate change, accounting for approximately 60 percent of global emissions on a consumption-based basis and over 75 percent on a historical basis.
• Developed countries possess the vast majority of the financial and technological capacity to address climate change, controlling roughly three-quarters of global GDP and approximately six-sevenths of discretionary GDP.

APA

Kartha, S., & Erickson, P. (2011). Comparison of Annex 1 and non-Annex 1 pledges under the Cancún Agreements. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/sei-wp-2011-06-comparison-of-pledges.pdf

Chicago

Kartha, Sivan, and Peter Erickson. Comparison of Annex 1 and non-Annex 1 pledges under the Cancún Agreements. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2011. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/sei-wp-2011-06-comparison-of-pledges.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kartha |first1=Sivan |last2=Erickson |first2=Peter |title=Comparison of Annex 1 and non-Annex 1 pledges under the Cancún Agreements |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=November 2011 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/sei-wp-2011-06-comparison-of-pledges.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 Cancún Agreements}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2011}, month = nov, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/sei-wp-2011-06-comparison-of-pledges.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }