 "Image via Shutterstock")
India will be fighting for better climate financing and smoother technology transfers under the overarching principle of climate justice, at the upcoming global climate conference in Marrakech that starts on Monday.
The twenty-second session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) will be running in Morocco from November 7-18 and will see countries sort out issues that have come up post the Paris Agreement being ratified by a majority of top economies. Now the issue will come back to the promise of better climate financing for developing and underdeveloped nations who face the brunt of climate change. Talks will also focus on the issue of technology transfers to poorer nations at subsidised rates or free of cost to allow them to withstand this.
Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave has repeatedly said that India will push for the principle of climate justice being recognised by nations, including rich economies like the United States and the European Union. While all nations had politically agreed to climate justice at Paris, it found mention only in the the preamble of the final Paris Agreement.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) set up under the United Nations has now approved more than $1 billion for projects to help developing countries to tackle the effects of climate change — although almost none of the money has been handed out yet. The fund, a UN flagship programme to channel cash for climate mitigation and adaptation to poorer countries, was established in 2010. But it took years to get off the ground and has been widely criticised for lack of accountability and transparency. Before last December’s climate talks in Paris, the GCF had been pledged $10.2 billion by rich nations, but had approved only $168 million for eight climate projects.
Under the landmark Paris Agreement, all governments that have ratified the accord, which includes India, the US, China, and the EU, now carry an obligation to hold global warming to no more than two degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels. That is what scientists regard as the limit of safety, beyond which climate change is likely to become catastrophic and irreversible. Countries have put forward commitments on curbing carbon emissions under the agreement.
India’s Intended Nationally Determined Commitments or climate goals builds on its goal of installing 175 gigawatts of renewable power capacity by 2022 by setting a new target to increase its share of non-fossil fuel-based power capacity from 30 per cent today to about 40 per cent by 2030 (with the help of international support). It also committed to reduce its emissions intensity per unit GDP by 33 to 35 per cent below 2005 by 2030 and create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to three billion tonnes of carbon dioxide through additional tree cover. The plan also prioritises efforts to build resilience to climate change impacts and gives a broad indication of the amount of financing necessary to reach its goals.
However, reports have emerged showing that even this, as well as similar levels of commitments, might not be enough to tame rising temperatures and sea levels.
A day before the Paris Agreement came into force on Friday, the United Nations Environment Programme said that current levels of pledges would actually see temperatures rise by 3 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels. At least a quarter must be cut from emissions by the end of the next decade, compared with current trends, it said. The report found that emissions by 2030 were likely to reach about 54 to 56 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent a year, a long way astray of the 42 gigatonnes a year likely to be the level at which warming exceeds 2 degree Celsius.
World Bank group President Jim Yong Kim has said that even with the commitments made in Paris and encouraging action on the ground, "We will not meet our aspiration of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees unless we move faster and at the scale that is needed."
"As the world heads into (the meeting) in Marrakesh, we must regain the sense of urgency we felt a year ago," he said.
On October 5, 2016, the threshold for entry into force of the Paris Agreement was achieved with the agreement entering into force on November 4, 2016. At present, 97 countries have ratified the convention. Over 50,000 people are expected to attend COP22 in Morocco, including around 20,000 delegates, some 30,000 civil society members, over 40 heads of state and 30 heads of government.
