G8 Targets Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 80% by 2050

According to the Globe and Mail the G8 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union) have agreed to target limiting the global temperature increase to 2^o Celsius (about 4^o F).  To do this the G8 have agreed to target reducing the greenhouse gas emissions, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and sulphur hexafluoride (GHG) of the world's 32 industrialized nations by 80% by 2050, although it has not been agreed which reference year to use.  The US and Canada have 2005 or 2006 in mind, whereas other countries believe 1990, the reference year for the Kyoto Accord on global climate change, should be the reference year. (Between 1990 and 2006, Canada's GHG emissions grew by 26 per cent.) Under the Kyoto Protocol, industrialized countries, which did not include the US, had agreed to reduce their collective GHG emissions by 5.2% compared to the year 1990. 

A major issue that remains outstanding and which will be discussed today is the proportion of  GHG emissions reduction to be allocated to industrialized countries (G8) and to emerging countries (especially the G5, China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa ).

The G8 discussions on global climate change are in preparation for the Copenhagen Climate Summit in December of this year which is tasked with coming up with an agreement to replace the Kyoto Accord which expires in 2012.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, which was passed by the US House of Representatives and is scheduled for a vote in the Senate in the near future, also specifically mentions 2^o C as the temperature increase target, specifically, "global average surface temperature 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) above the pre-industrial average".