Developing countries pledge bigger climate emissions cuts than world's richest nations

At the end of May the International Energy Agency announced new figures, which showed that greenhouse gas emissions from energy use increased by a record amount last year, contributing to the highest carbon output in history. Last week, the top UN climate official, Christiana Figueres, said "We are getting into very risky territory,” adding that time was running out.

Now that is an understatement. For millions of the world's most vulnerable people, the warming climate has made things a lot more risky already. Poor farmers are uncertain when to sow their crops, and yields are declining.

It’s against this backdrop that Oxfam has revealed that developing countries are pledging greater cuts in emissions of greenhouse gasses than developed countries. Oxfam estimates that at least 60 per cent of emissions cuts by 2020 currently on the table are likely to be made in developing countries.

See full Press Release.