South Sudan has submitted its new climate action plan to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

This Intended Nationally Determined Contribution comes ahead of a new universal climate change agreement that will come into effect in 2020.

The agreement will be reached at the UN climate conference in Paris, in December this year.

It aims at empowering all countries to act to prevent average global temperatures rising above 2 degrees Celsius.

It is also to reap the many opportunities that arise from a necessary global transformation to clean and sustainable development.

Countries have agreed that there will be no back-tracking in these national climate plans, meaning that the level of ambition to reduce emissions will increase over time.

South Sudan’s climate plan includes the formation of an environmental policy framework and environmental bill that will regulate the exploitation of natural resources.

This will be done by the Ministry of Environment and its partners.

Following 50 years of conflict and a split from Sudan in 2011, the African state has limited data available on its greenhouse gas emissions.

It committed to draw up a full inventory in 2016, according to Climate Change News website.

Meanwhile, it is aiming to protect 20% of the country’s natural forest and plant 20 million trees within a decade.

In its independence settlement, South Sudan got the bulk of oil deposits, with the third largest reserves in sub-Saharan Africa. It depends on hydrocarbons for 98% of GDP, the document says.

Yet 96% of the population use wood for fuel, putting pressure on forests, as oil is exported through Sudan to world markets.