While annual global climate talks are peppered with announcements of voluntary sectoral initiatives and pledges, signed onto by governments with great fanfare and media attention, the jury’s still out as to whether these pledges translate into national action.
In a report released on April 8, global climate science and policy institute Climate Analytics looked at four such COP pledges covering coal, renewables, energy efficiency and methane, and their impact across eight Asian countries: Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, selected for both their heavy reliance on fossil fuels, and their participation in the pledges.
