UN meet unlikely this year

Syllabus subtopic: Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate

News: With Chile withdrawing its offer to host the 25^th edition of United Nations Conference of Parties (COP), it’s unlikely that there will be a meeting this year.

Prelims focus: about UNCOP, UNFCCC, India’s INDC

Mains focus: role of UNFCCC in combating climate change. achievements and Challenges

Background

The COP 25 was to be held in Santiago, Chile until Chilean President announced its withdrawal. This year’s COP was originally to be hosted by Brazil but it backed out before Chile stepped in.

About UNCOP

• The COP is the pre-eminent climate meet, where world leaders decide on actions that must be taken to address global warming,

• Since it was first held in 1995 it has never once been cancelled

• A typical COP has participants in the tens of thousands and includes minister, bureaucrats, activists, and journalists from nearly 200 countries

• Ease of accommodation and smooth transport to the venue and places of residence are critical factors in a country’s ability to organise the COP

Note: COP 24 was held in Katowice, Poland in 2018

About Paris Deal

• The 21st Session of the COP (COP21), held in Paris, France, in December 2015, was historic in its outcome – the first international climate agreement.

• The Paris Agreement mobilizes the Parties to the Convention in taking action to decrease greenhouse gas emissions with an agreed-upon goal of staying below a global average temperature increase of 2° Celsius (3.6° Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

• This is a challenging goal; the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published in 2013/2014, stated that the global average temperature had already risen .85°C between 1880 and 2012, and that the past three decades had been successively warmer than any others since 1850.

• This apparent warming trend, which is expected to continue, highlights the difficulty of staying below a 2° rise.

• However, many argue that the 2° limit is not ambitious enough – that there will be dangerous global consequences of a temperature rise of even that much. The agreement encourages participating Parties to strive to stay below a 1.5° increase.

• The Paris Agreement requires each Party to publish an action plan of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) reflecting the Party’s ambitions to comply with the UNFCCC’s objective to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Their progress will be reviewed and evaluated every five years.

• The Paris Agreement Signature Ceremony on 22 April 2016 set a record for first-day signatures of support to an international agreement with 175 Parties signing. The Agreement entered into force on 4 November. At COP22 in Marrakesh, Morocco, from 7-18 November, Parties will begin preparations for its entry into force.

India's INDC

• Sustainable Lifestyles - To put forward and further propagate a healthy and sustainable way of living based on traditions and values of conservation and moderation.

• Cleaner Economic Development - To adopt a climate-friendly and a cleaner path than the one followed hitherto by others at the corresponding level of economic development.

• Reducing Emission intensity of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - To reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 percent by 2030 from 2005 level.

• Increasing the Share of Non-Fossil Fuel Based Electricity - To achieve about 40 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030 with the help of transfer of technology and low-cost international finance including from Green Climate Fund (GCF). India has a target to install 227 GW target of renewable energy by 2022.

• Enhancing Carbon Sink (Forests) - To create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.

• Adaptation - To better adapt to climate change by enhancing investments in development programmes in sectors vulnerable to climate change, particularly agriculture, water resources, Himalayan region, coastal regions, health, and disaster management.

• Mobilizing Finance - To mobilize domestic and new & additional funds from developed countries to implement the above mitigation and adaptation actions in view of the resource required and the resource gap.

• Technology Transfer and Capacity Building - To build capacities, create a domestic framework and international architecture for quick diffusion of cutting-edge climate technology in India and for joint collaborative R&D for such future technologies.