Limiting greenhouse gas emissions: is the Cancun agreement enough?

The objective set by the IPPC of limiting the increase in average global temperature to +2°C compared with the pre–industrial era is now accepted by all concerned. This ambitious objective was recognised at the Copenhagen Conference in 2009 and confirmed at Cancun in 2010. There are still no restrictive measures, but to achieve this objective, the main countries contributing to the emissions have already announced their commitment to reducing their emissions by 2020. The aim of this paper is firstly to gain a better understanding of what this objective involves in terms of reducing global emissions over the next ten years. It will then go on to assess whether the measures taken by the various countries are sufficient.