The U.S. Department of State has issued a Federal Register notice informing the public of the opportunity to submit comments on the draft Fifth National Communication on U.S. Climate Change Actions. This document, also called the U.S. Climate Action Report 2010, is a requirement for all annex I parties to the United Nations (U.N.) Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The draft Fifth Climate Action Report provides a detailed summary of U.S. actions to address climate change. This report contains descriptions of specific measures and actions, outlines of broad policy initiatives and descriptions of activities conducted by the U.S. since the previous report in 2006, principally at the federal level. It also explains U.S. government efforts to increase scientific understanding of climate change, and provide foreign assistance to help other nations mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.
The draft Fifth Climate Action Report will be available for review and public comment until May 6. Public comments will be considered by appropriate experts within the U.S. government and be taken into account before the final version of this document is published. The final report will be submitted by the Department of State to the U.N. Secretariat in early summer, after a review of public comments.
The Federal Register notice can be found at access.gpo.gov.
In related news, U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern will lead U.S. participation in the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate at the Department of State on April 18 to 19. Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs Michael Froman will serve as chair.
The forum is intended to facilitate a candid dialogue among major developed and developing economies to make progress in meeting the climate change and clean energy challenge, as well as to advance the exploration of concrete initiatives and joint ventures that increase the supply of clean energy while cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of State
