Query: President Obama's proposal calls for serious cuts in our own long-term carbon emissions, but China and India will still be allowed to increase their emissions.

Relevant passages:
2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference <=SEP=> The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference , commonly known as the Copenhagen Summit , was held at the Bella Center in Copenhagen , Denmark , between 7 and 18 December . The conference included the 15th Conference of the Parties ( COP 15 ) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) and the 5th Meeting of the Parties ( MOP 5 ) to the Kyoto Protocol . According to the Bali Road Map , a framework for climate change mitigation beyond 2012 was to be agreed there .   On Friday 18 December , the final day of the conference , international media reported that the climate talks were `` in disarray '' . Media also reported that in lieu of a summit collapse , only a `` weak political statement '' was anticipated at the conclusion of the conference . The Copenhagen Accord was drafted by the United States , China , India , Brazil and South Africa on 18 December , and judged a `` meaningful agreement '' by the United States government . It was `` taken note of '' , but not `` adopted '' , in a debate of all the participating countries the next day , and it was not passed unanimously . The document recognised that climate change is one of the greatest challenges of the present day and that actions should be taken to keep any temperature increases to below 2 ° C . The document is not legally binding and does not contain any legally binding commitments for reducing emissions .   In January 2014 , documents leaked by Edward Snowden and published by Dagbladet Information revealed that the US government negotiators were in receipt of information during the conference that was being obtained by spying against other conference delegations . The US National Security Agency provided US delegates with advance details other delegations ' positions , including the Danish plan to `` rescue '' the talks should they flounder . Members of the Danish negotiating team said that both the US and Chinese delegations were `` peculiarly well-informed '' about closed-door discussions : `` They simply sat back , just as we had feared they would if they knew about our document . ''

Emissions trading <=SEP=> Emissions trading or cap and trade is a government-mandated , market-based approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants . In contrast to command-and-control environmental regulations such as best available technology ( BAT ) standards and government subsidies , cap and trade ( CAT ) schemes are a type of flexible environmental regulation that allows organizations to decide how best to meet policy targets . Various countries , states and groups of companies have adopted such trading systems , notably for mitigating climate change .   A central authority ( usually a governmental body ) allocates or sells a limited number of permits to discharge specific quantities of a specific pollutant per time period . Polluters are required to hold permits in amount equal to their emissions . Polluters that want to increase their emissions must buy permits from others willing to sell them . Financial derivatives of permits can also be traded on secondary markets .   In theory , polluters who can reduce emissions most cheaply will do so , achieving the emission reduction at the lowest cost to society . Cap and trade is meant to provide the private sector with the flexibility required to reduce emissions while stimulating technological innovation and economic growth .   There are active trading programs in several air pollutants . For greenhouse gases , which cause climate change , permit units are often called carbon credits . The largest greenhouse gases trading program is the European Union Emission Trading Scheme , which trades primarily in European Union Allowances ( EUAs ) ; the Californian scheme trades in California Carbon Allowances , the New Zealand scheme in New Zealand Units and the Australian scheme in Australian Units . The United States has a national market to reduce acid rain and several regional markets in nitrogen oxides .