5 year Anniversary of Paris Agreement

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Context: Climate Change is one of the most important topics for UPSC Prelims 2021 and it is also important for Mains Answer Writing for IAS Mains 2021. Hence, AspireIAS has come up with a comprehensive document for Climate Change.

• The world gathered at the Climate Ambition Summit 2020 to celebrate and recognise our resolve in working toward a safer, more resilient world with net zero emissions.
• Now that the World is facing a pandemic, the case for a global action to fight Climate change is stronger. For future prosperity, we must invest in greening the global economy.
• But the Post­COVID­19 recovery needs to be a green recovery.
• Back in December 2019, the European Commission launched the European Green Deal — a new growth model and roadmap to achieve climate neutrality in the EU by 2050.
• To reach climate neutrality by 2050, on December 11, EU leaders unanimously agreed on the 2030 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% compared to 1990 levels. This will further accelerate the fast decrease in the costs of low carbon technologies.
• The cost of solar photovoltaics has already declined by 82% between 2010 and 2019. Achieving the 55% target will even help us to save €100 billion in the next decade and up to €3 trillion by 2050.
• No government can tackle climate change alone. We will pursue all avenues to foster cooperation with partners from all around the world. India is a key player in this global endeavour.
• The rapid development of solar and wind energy in India in the last few years is a good example of the action needed worldwide.

India – European Union relations in Climate Change

• EU and India are committed to the full implementation of the Paris Agreement. India has taken a number of flagship initiatives like the International Solar Alliance, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and the Leadership Group for Industry Transition.
• India and Team Europe are engaged to make a success of the forthcoming international gatherings: COP 26 in Glasgow on climate change and COP 15 in Kunming on biodiversity.
• Five years after the signing of the Paris Agreement, it is more important than ever that the international community comes forward with clear strategies for netzero emissions and to enhance the global level of ambition for 2030.

Way Forward

• We can avoid the most dramatic impacts of climate change on our societies. Our global, regional, national, local and individual recovery plans are an opportunity to ‘build back better’. We owe it to the next generation who will have to bear the burden of climate change and pay off the debt of the recovery.
• Good public policies are indispensable but not sufficient. We will also need to foster small individual actions to attain a big collective impact. This is the snowball effect we need starting from the Paris Agreement.

Conclusion

• With climate neutrality as our goal, the world should mobilise its best scientists, business people, policymakers, academics, civil society actors and citizens to protect together something we all share beyond borders and species: our planet.