News Highlight
The COP 27, which opens in Egypt on November 6, makes real advances to prevent the worst effects of global warming.
Key Takeaway
- India and other developing countries are worried about the damage to growth from COVID-19, the Russia-Ukraine war and the global economy’s downturn.
The core issues
- Emissions by rich countries
- Despite reluctance to make firm promises in these unsettling times, a breakthrough is necessary to address decades of unequal emissions by wealthy nations.
- They are still unwilling to offset past excesses by extending the massive financing that developing economies need for climate action.
- Heavy burning of fossil fuels
- The heavy burning of fossil fuels by the top five emitters — China, the United States, India, Russia, and Japan — and Southeast Asian countries is still an issue.
- Government apathy
- The rich countries have already shown that they can mobilise vast resources to tackle global emergencies.
- They did this in the 2008–09 global financial crisis and spectacularly so in the $15 trillion committed in 2020 (by one estimate), by the major economies to fight COVIDÂ19.
- Climate finance
- The rich countries are failing dismally in raising the UNÂ goal of at least $100 billion annually in climate finance for developing countries.
- Reaching carbon neutrality by 2050
- Reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 is the absolute minimum for all major emitters.
- Ahead of COP27, Singapore has announced that it will achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
- China has announced net zero for 2060.
COP 27 and India
- Fossil fuels
- India’s reliance on fossil fuels is exceptionally high.
- Coal is the most essential and abundant fossil fuel in India. It accounts for 55% of the country’s energy needs.
- Net zero by 2070
- India announced that it will reach carbon neutrality by 2070 as part of a five-point action plan that included reducing emissions to 50% by 2030.
- Electric power
- Electric power has made progress in adopting renewables in its energy mix, but a far bigger switch from fossil fuel is needed for domestic heating and cooling.
The Conference of the Parties (COP)
- About
- COP is the apex decision-making authority of the United Nations Climate Change Framework Convention (UNFCCC).
- The Conference of Parties comes under the UNFCCC, which was formed in 1994.
- The COP meets every year.
- The first COP meeting was held in Berlin, Germany, in March 1995.
- The COP President:
- The office of the COP President typically rotates among the five United Nations regional groups:
- Africa
- Asia
- Latin America and the Caribbean
- Central and Eastern Europe
- Western Europe and Others
- The office of the COP President typically rotates among the five United Nations regional groups:
COP26 or The Glasgow meeting.
- Place:
- It was hosted by the UK in partnership with Italy and took place from 31 October to 12 November 2021 in the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) in Glasgow, UK.
- Four goals of COP26:
- Secure global net zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach.
- Adapt to protect communities and natural habitats.
- Mobilise finance
- Finalise the Paris Rulebook
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
- About
- It was signed in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Earth Summit, the Rio Summit or the Rio Conference.
- Members:
- The UNFCCC entered into force on 21st March 1994 and was ratified by 197 countries.
- The UNFCCC secretariat:
- The UNFCCC secretariat (UN Climate Change) is the United Nations entity tasked with supporting the global response to the threat of climate change.
- It is located in Bonn, Germany.
- Objective:
- To achieve stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.
- India and UNFCCC:
- India ratified the UNFCCC in 1993.
- The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) acts as the nodal agency for UNFCCC in India.
Pic Courtesy: Freepik
Content Source: The Hindu