NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
Theme : Bilateral, regional and global grouping and agreements involving India or affecting India’s interests, Important international institutions etc
Paper : GS - 2
- It stands for the annual ‘Conference of the Parties’ to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol(1997) or the Paris Agreement.
- Meetings review the progress made by countries in the fight against climate change and in the implementation of decisions taken in earlier COPs.
TABLE OF CONTENT
- Context
- COP
- Key Findings of COP-27
- Loss & Damage
- Paris Agreement
- Road Ahead
Context : The United Nations Climate Change Conference 2022 — COP27 — opened in Sharm el-Sheikh(Egypt) with the aim of ensuring full implementation of the Paris Agreement adopted in 2015.
COP :
- It stands for the annual ‘Conference of the Parties’ to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol(1997) or the Paris Agreement.
- Meetings review the progress made by countries in the fight against climate change and in the implementation of decisions taken in earlier COPs.
- The first COP meeting was held in Berlin, Germany, 1995.
Key Findings of COP27:
- Global warming: It has already touched 1 degrees Celsius
- Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe
- The current commitments and policies of different nations will lead to a temperature rise of 8(two point eight)degrees by the end of this century
- Global warming: To restrict global warming to 5(one point five), carbon emissions must come down 45 per cent by 2030 and touch net zero by 2050
- Loss and damage: COP27 includes ‘loss and damage’ in the main agenda.
Loss & Damage :
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It refers to costs the rich and developed countries, who are majorly responsible for industrial emissions, should pay to poorer nations(made negligible contribution to pollution) but are more vulnerable to extreme climate events –
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For example: the devastating floods in Pakistan
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Polluter Pays” principle: It makes the polluter liable for paying not just for the cost of remedial action, but also for compensating the victims of environmental damage caused by their actions.
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Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) for Loss and Damages(2013): It was the first formal acknowledgment of the need to compensate developing countries struck by climate disasters.
Paris Agreement :
- It is a legally binding international treaty on climate change.
- Adoption: It was adopted by 196 countries at Conference of the Parties COP 21 in Paris, 2015.
- Goal: To limit global warming to well below 2° Celsius, and preferably limit it to 1.5°(one point five)Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
- Objective: To achieve the long-term temperature goal, countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate-neutral world by mid-century.
Road Ahead :
- Lead by example: Germany gets 40 percent of its electricity from renewables, and has decided to have a fossil fuel-free electricity system by 2035.So has California in the US.
- The advanced economies: They should ideally aim at achieving carbon-free electricity systems by 2030.Though challenging, but not beyond the technological capacities of these economies.
- Europe: Ending the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035(UK has already set 2030)The increasing share of renewables in the electricity system will decarbonise EV transport
- Hydrogen: It can be a substitute for fossil fuels.Green hydrogen made from renewables is one such solution.
- Lower tax rates: A rapid transition can be promoted by having lower tax rates for goods whose production has low to zero carbon emissions.
FAQs :
1. What is COP ?
Answer : It stands for the annual ‘Conference of the Parties’ to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol(1997) or the Paris Agreement.
2. When was the First COP ?
Answer : The first COP meeting was held in Berlin, Germany, 1995.