In November, the Paris Climate Conference (COP21) will be held with the aim of setting a global target for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, but this process it already under threat as many of the highest polluting countries are yet to submit their individual targets for early negotiation.

This week the European Union’s Climate and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canate publicly named Brazil, Turkey, South Africa and India, amongst others, as nations yet to present their own emissions reduction targets.

“Key G20 countries such as Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey must submit their intended contributions without delay”, Canate told a press conference on Thursday.
Canate further pleaded with these countries to actively involve themselves in the Paris Conference as the window for capping greenhouse gas emissions and limiting the rapid rise of global temperatures is “closing fast”.
The three largest polluting blocs, the European Union, the United States and China have all submitted their emissions reduction targets in the past few months, with their actions drawing praise from Canate.
Furthermore, Canate praised the efforts of smaller nations such as those in Africa and the Pacific for their early participation in the negotiation process of the COP21.
One of the most ambitious targets set thus far has come for the European Union, which has proposed a 40% cut to emissions by 2030, with the United States planning to curb emissions by 26-28%  from 2005 levels within the next ten years.
Countries such as Canada and Australia have been criticized for their lackluster emissions targets, with former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan stating back in June that the two nations “appear to have withdrawn entirely from constructive international engagement on climate.”
EU Commissioner said in Brussels on Thursday that the COP21 process “will require all countries to show flexibility”, whilst expressing doubt as to whether such an ideal could be achieved.
While lamenting the “painfully slow” progress of negotiations in the lead up to the conference in Paris, scheduled to begin on the 3oth of November, Commissioner Canate said that advocates of a legally-binding climate deal will still intend to pursue an ambitious agreement, “Paris needs to send a credible signal the world is serious about fighting climate change”.