{"id":17663,"date":"2022-03-06T18:27:28","date_gmt":"2022-03-06T18:27:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chaosindia.com\/demo\/shaktifou\/?p=17663"},"modified":"2022-03-23T07:36:32","modified_gmt":"2022-03-23T07:36:32","slug":"climate-ambition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chaosindia.com\/demo\/shaktifou\/ecohub\/climate-ambition\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate Ambition : COP 26 And Beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"

In about a week from today, world leaders will\u00a0gather at\u00a0COP26 in Glasgow.\u00a0The pressure is on for countries to urgently ramp up their ambitions for\u00a0global collective action on climate change.\u00a0The\u00a0latest IPCC report<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>speaks volumes about the challenge ahead\u2014the world has only a very narrow pathway to limit warming to 1.5 degrees C, the limit scientists say is necessary for averting the worst of climate disasters.<\/p>\n

It is worthwhile to remember that COP 26 is taking place in a context that has never been seen before. Countries all over the world are recovering from the ravages of\u00a0COVID-19. The impact of climate change is\u00a0becoming more visible from extreme weather events to the loss of people\u2019s livelihoods.\u00a0In the run up to COP 26, several nations announced net zero targets putting the spotlight on India to do the same.<\/p>\n

The goal at COP26\u00a0\u00a0is to get countries to enhance their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) agreed to under the Paris Agreement. But progress at COP 26 depends to a large extent on how well the issue of climate finance and equity will be addressed in the\u00a0negotiations.<\/p>\n

Can Climate Finance Be The Remedy To The Trust Deficit Looming Over COP 26?<\/h3>\n

The climate finance gap\u00a0is being viewed as a major stumbling block for COP26. More than a decade ago, developed countries\u00a0pledged to mobilize $100 billion annually by 2020 to enhance climate action by developing countries. But\u00a0the OECD\u00a0recently estimated<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0developed countries mobilized\u00a0$79.6 billion in climate finance in 2019, falling short of this\u00a0vital commitment (see figure below).The report also shows that the finance flows stagnated even before the global pandemic.<\/p>\n

\"climate-finance\"<\/p>\n

Image credit : Climate Finance Provided and Mobilised by Developed Countries (OECD 2021)<\/em><\/p>\n

Recent\u00a0research from the World Resources Institut<\/strong><\/a>e (WRI)<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>finds that three major economies \u2014 the United States, Australia, and Canada \u2014 provided less than half their share of the financial effort committed way back in 2018.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0UN NDC synthesis\u00a0report<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>emphasizes that NDCs submitted by several developing countries included conditional commitments to cut down on emissions. But these could only be fulfilled with access to additional finances and other support, particularly for\u00a0adaptation measures.<\/p>\n

Echoing this sentiment,\u00a0India\u00a0called upon developed countries to fulfil their promise of climate financing,\u00a0asserting that\u00a0“<\/a>COP26 should focus on climate finance in scope, scale and speed and transfer of green technologies at low cost.<\/strong><\/a>“<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>On a positive note, US President Biden\u2019s\u00a0recent pledge<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to double\u00a0climate finance for developing countries comes as\u00a0a welcome move,\u00a0but it still falls short of what is actually the need of the hour.<\/p>\n

Sizing Up The NDCs Globally<\/h3>\n

The NDCs lie at the heart of the Paris Agreement. The recently released\u00a0UN NDC synthesis\u00a0report<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>sized up NDCs from around the globe. It acknowledges\u00a0the\u00a0trend of greenhouse gas emissions being reduced over time, but also warns that\u00a0countries must urgently redouble their climate efforts if they are to prevent global temperature increases beyond the Paris Agreement\u2019s goal of well below 2C \u2013 ideally 1.5C \u2013 by the end of the century.<\/p>\n

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The report\u00a0reveals some alarming findings\u2014the available climate plans of all 191 parties together implies a sizeable increase of about 16% in global GHG emissions in 2030 as compared to 2010.<\/p>\n

It is amply clear that\u00a0each party must\u00a0stand\u00a0committed to intensify its efforts lest we stare at a disaster in the making for all mankind.<\/p>\n

Net Zero Is A Pipe Dream Without Total Inclusion<\/h3>\n

From\u00a0running one of the largest and most ambitious renewable capacity expansion programs in the world, to spearheading global climate\u00a0partnerships,\u00a0India has\u00a0taken massive strides.<\/p>\n

While these actions\u00a0are well-recognized, the key question is whether India is in a position to announce a long-term target such as net zero emissions by 2050. Ahead of COP 26, several countries announced net zero pledges, including\u00a0the\u00a0USA and China by \u00a02050 and 2060 respectively.<\/p>\n

But for a country like India,\u00a0choosing a net-zero year is not a simple task.\u00a0India’s national circumstances and the feasibility of achieving net-zero,\u00a0particularly in the context of\u00a0the\u00a0development needs of the vast majority of its population,\u00a0should be carefully considered before such a long-term commitment can be made.<\/p>\n

In a\u00a0joint op-ed<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>Dr Anshu Bhardwaj,\u00a0Shakti CEO\u00a0and\u00a0Shri Jayant Sinha, Chairman of the standing Committee on Finance in Parliament, point\u00a0out that\u00a0“there are many potential paths to a green future, including net zero, all of which require a detailed analysis to determine the best course for India.” They underscore\u00a0that India is already on a low-carbon growth trajectory by demonstrating that economic growth does not have to go together with the consumption of fossil fuels and increasing emissions.<\/p>\n

India’s energy transition has wider implications.<\/em>\u00a0Mr. Jamshyd Godrej, Shakti Board Chair and Industry leader and\u00a0Fatih Birol Executive Director of the IEA,\u00a0opine in a\u00a0joint op-ed<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>that\u00a0India’s energy transition must\u00a0be just,\u00a0people centric and\u00a0focus on gender equity and social inclusion. They add that\u00a0in “India\u2019s case, new jobs would need to be found over time for the coal miners affected by the changes, as well as for people who work in the fossil fuel power plants that will be closed down.”\u00a0Clearly, the need for equity is significant\u00a0not just in terms of India’s response to net-zero globally but also for India’s own growth trajectory.<\/p>\n

India is Seeking a Level Playing Field<\/h3>\n

But inequitable climate goals are unfairly burdening\u00a0developing countries. The 2050 net zero goal\u00a0should\u00a0be based on\u00a0the\u00a0principles of equity, and common but differentiated responsibilities. Anything else is unjust and undesirable.\u00a0India’s energy transition has wider implications.<\/em>\u00a0Mr. Jamshyd Godrej, Shakti Board Chair and Industry leader and\u00a0Fatih Birol Executive Director of the IEA,\u00a0opine in a\u00a0joint op-ed<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>that\u00a0India’s energy transition must\u00a0be just,\u00a0people centric and\u00a0focus on gender equity and social inclusion. They add that\u00a0in “India\u2019s case, new jobs would need to be found over time for the coal miners affected by the changes, as well as for people who work in the fossil fuel power plants that will be closed down.”\u00a0Clearly, the need for equity is significant\u00a0not just in terms of India’s response to net-zero globally but also for India’s own growth trajectory.<\/p>\n

India is seeking a level playing field. But inequitable climate goals are unfairly burdening\u00a0developing countries. The 2050 net zero goal\u00a0should\u00a0be based on\u00a0the\u00a0principles of equity, and common but differentiated responsibilities. Anything else is unjust and undesirable.<\/p>\n

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\nImage credit : What On Earth, CEEW (2021)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In about a week from today, world leaders will\u00a0gather at\u00a0COP26 in Glasgow.\u00a0The pressure is on for countries to urgently ramp up their ambitions for\u00a0global collective action on climate change.\u00a0The\u00a0latest IPCC […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ecohub"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/chaosindia.com\/demo\/shaktifou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/chaosindia.com\/demo\/shaktifou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/chaosindia.com\/demo\/shaktifou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chaosindia.com\/demo\/shaktifou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chaosindia.com\/demo\/shaktifou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17663"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"http:\/\/chaosindia.com\/demo\/shaktifou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17901,"href":"http:\/\/chaosindia.com\/demo\/shaktifou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17663\/revisions\/17901"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chaosindia.com\/demo\/shaktifou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/chaosindia.com\/demo\/shaktifou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chaosindia.com\/demo\/shaktifou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chaosindia.com\/demo\/shaktifou\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}