Paris climate change deal

Introduction

Climate change refers to significant changes in global temperature, precipitation,

wind patterns and other measures of climate that occur over several decades or
longer. While “climate change” and “global warming” are often used interchangeably,
global warming—the recent rise in the global average temperature near the earth’s
surface—is just one aspect of climate change.

Various factors are responsible for it including:

● Natural Factors: such as continental drift, volcanoes, ocean currents, the

earth’s tilt, and comets and meteorites. The natural factors affect the climate
change in long term and persist for thousand to millions of years.
● Anthropogenic (Human Caused) Factors: includes greenhouse gases,
aerosols and pattern of land use changes etc.
According to the IPCC, increases in global mean temperature above 1.5degree
will produce unavoidable negative consequences associated with rising sea levels, erratic
rainfall patterns, droughts, floods etc.

Past efforts for environmental protection

Stockholm conference 1972: The final declaration of the Stockholm Conference
was an environmental manifesto that was a forceful statement of the finite nature of
Earth’s resources and the necessity for humanity to safeguard them. The Stockholm
Conference also led to the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) in December 1972 to coordinate global efforts to promote sustainability and
safeguard the natural environment.
Brundtland Commission report 1987: In response to mounting concern
surrounding ozone depletion, global warming, and other environmental problems
associated with raising the standard of living of the world’s population, the UN General
Assembly convened the World Commission on Environment and Development
(WCED)WCED, an international group of environmental experts, politicians, and civil
servants, in 1983. The WCED (also called the Brundtland Commission) was charged
with proposing long-term solutions for bringing about sustainable development and
continuing it into the 21st century.
The Brundtland Report is most often cited for its definition of sustainable development
as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Rio Conference 1992:

● The historic consensus in Rio led to the adoption of the UN Framework

Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), which was a model global
instrument balancing the right to development of the developing
countries and the obligations of the developed countries.
● A distinction was made between the “luxury emissions” of the developed
countries, which were reduced mandatorily, and the survival
emissions of the developing countries, which were allowed to increase.
UNFCCC formulated the underlying principle of future climate
change negotiations, Common But Differentiated Responsiblity
(CBDR) .

The CBDR principal talks about both Intra generational and Inter
generational equity, i.e while managing climate change is a global
responsibility.

the burden of managing climate change needs to be shared in a

manner that equitably divides such responsibilities both within a
generation (read-considering present global CO2 emission levels of
every country) and also across generations(read- the historical
responsibility of big industrialised countries like-USA, EU countries
etc,who have cumulatively been the biggest GHG emitters).
Current share in global CO2 emissions: country wise

Current Per Capita CO2 emissions country wise

Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol was the first international agreement linked to the UNFCCC,
which commits its parties by setting internationally binding emission reduction
targets. The Kyoto Protocol operationalizes the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change ( originated from Rio conference) by committing industrialized
countries and economies in transition to limit and reduce greenhouse gases (GHG)
emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets.
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan in 1997 and entered into force in
2005.
Underlying principles of Kyoto Protocol:
Kyoto Protocol operationalized the key concept of CBDR as well as “historical
responsibilites” and divided countries into Annex 1 and Annex 2 countries.
Annexe 1 countries: European countries, Canada, Australia- Accepted legally
binding emission cuts.
Annexe 2 countries: other developing world countries- were not subjected to any
legally binding emission cuts

It places a heavier burden on Annexure 1 countries under the principle of

“common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities”,
because it recognizes that they are largely responsible for the current high
levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere.
The detailed rules for the implementation of the Protocol were adopted at COP-7
in Marrakesh, in 2001 and are referred to as the Marrakesh Accords.
Kyoto Protocol
Phase-1 (2008-12) gave the target to industrialized countries of cutting down
emissions by 5% wrt 1990 levels.
Phase- 2 (2013-20) gave the target of reducing emissions by at least 18% wrt 1990
levels by the industrialized countries.
In its Annex 1, the Kyoto Protocol did set binding emission reduction targets for 37
industrialized countries and economies in transition and the European Union. Overall,
these targets add up to an average 5 per cent emission reduction compared to 1990
levels over the five year period 2008–2012 (the first commitment period).

The Kyoto mechanisms:

One important element of the Kyoto Protocol was the establishment of flexible market
mechanisms, which are based on the trade of emissions permits. Under the Protocol,
countries must meet their targets primarily through national measures. However, the
Protocol also offers them an additional means to meet their targets by way of three
market-based mechanisms:

i) International Emissions Trading: Emissions trading, as set out in Kyoto Protocol,

allows countries that have emission units to spare - emissions permitted them but not
"used" - to sell this excess capacity to countries that are over their targets.
Thus, a new commodity was created in the form of emission reductions or removals.
Since carbon dioxide is the principal greenhouse gas, carbon is now tracked and traded
like any other commodity. This is known as the "carbon market."

ii) Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) : Clean Development Mechanism (CDM),

allows a country with an emission-reduction commitment under the Kyoto Protocol
(Annex B Party) to implement an emission-reduction project in developing
countries. Such projects can earn saleable certified emission reduction (CER)
credits, which can be counted towards meeting Kyoto targets.

A CDM project activity might involve, for example, a rural electrification project
using solar panels or the installation of more energy-efficient boilers. The
mechanism stimulates sustainable development and emission reductions, while
giving industrialized countries some flexibility in how they meet their emission
reduction or limitation targets.

iii) Joint implementation (JI) The mechanism known as "joint implementation",

defined in Article 6 of the Kyoto Protocol, allows a country with an emission
reduction commitment under the Kyoto Protocol (Annex B Party) to earn emission
 reduction units (ERUs) from an emission-reduction or emission removal project in
another Annex B Party, which can be counted towards meeting its Kyoto target.

Joint implementation offers Parties a flexible and cost-efficient means of fulfilling a part
of their Kyoto commitments, while the host Party benefits from foreign investment and
technology transfer.

The success of Kyoto protocol was modest at best as:

1. USA which initially signed the treaty later refused to ratify it (i.e
backed out) and thus was not a participant of the protocol in Phase 1
(2008-2012).
2. Phase 2 commitment (2012- 2020)-also turned out to be severely limited
in scope (covering merely 15% of the global CO2 emissions due to the
lack of commitments of Japan, Russia and Canada for the second phase ( USA
refused to be a party-like it did during the 1st phase).
3. Further, Canada was committed to cutting its greenhouse emissions to 6% below
1990 levels by 2012, but in 2009 emissions were 17% higher than in 1990. It
refused to ratify the Phase 2 commitments.

Copenhagen Accord 2009: Abandonment of Rio Principles

· It says all countries should pledge to reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emission
but all of the pledges made under the Copenhagen Accord are voluntary. There
are no binding obligations placed on these pledges by the UNFCCC or any
other international body.
· The end of the Kyoto Protocol and the abandonment of the spirit of the Rio
principles were reflected in the Copenhagen Accord (2009).
· Argument given was that a global climate action plan would be possible only if all
reductions of the greenhouse gases were made voluntarily.
Paris Agreement 2015( What is Paris Deal? )

● It is an international agreement to combat climate change and to reduce,

mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
● The aims of the Paris Agreement are:
· Keep the global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius
above the pre-industrial level.
 · Pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees
Celsius.
· Strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate
change.

● Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) were conceived at Paris

summit which requires each Party to prepare, communicate and maintain
successive nationally determined contributions (NDCs) that it intends to
achieve.
● Paris Agreement replaced earlier agreement to deal with climate change,
the Kyoto Protocol.
● In the Paris agreement, there is no difference between developing and
developed countries.
Some of the key aspects of the Agreement are set out below:

● Long-term temperature goal – The Paris Agreement, in seeking to

strengthen the global response to climate change, reaffirms the goal of limiting
global temperature increase to well below 2 degrees Celsius, while
pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees.

● Mitigation – The Paris Agreement establishes commitments by all Parties to

prepare, communicate and maintain a nationally determined contribution (NDC)
and to pursue domestic measures to achieve them. Importantly these
commitments are to be voluntarily determined by respective countries. Also
failure to attain the self determined targets will not attract any legal or financial
penalties.

● Adaptation – The Paris Agreement establishes a global goal on adaptation – of

enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability
to climate change in the context of the temperature goal of the Agreement.
● Loss and damage – The Paris Agreement recognizes the importance of
minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects
of climate change. The text does talk about support for loss and damage, but
clearly specifies that this will not be considered as liability or compensation.

● Finance, technology and capacity-building support – The Paris

Agreement reaffirms the obligations of developed countries to support the efforts
of developing country Parties to build clean, climate-resilient futures. For this the
agreement includes the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Paris agreement calls
 for financial support from developed countries that is significantly
derived from public funds, which “should represent a progression beyond
previous efforts”. GCF must receive at least $100 billion per year to address
needs and priorities of developing countries for mitigation and adaptation.

● Transparency , implementation and compliance – The Paris Agreement

relies on a robust transparency and accounting system (Transparency
Framework) to provide clarity on action and support by Parties. For this the
agreement talks about having a periodic 5 year review of actions taken by all
parties.

Shortcomings of paris agreement .

1. Unsustainable targets: The world reached at almost 1degree Celsius

warming post industrialization and the Paris contributions are not enough to
maintain 2 degree Celsius levels.
2. Unsatisfactory Response: Many countries argued for a tougher target of
1.5C - including leaders of low-lying countries that face unsustainable sea levels
rises in a warming world.
3. Non-binding agreement: The US withdrawal from the 2015 Paris climate
agreement, citing, that the deal punished" the US and would cost millions of
American jobs”, has created new barriers and more pressure on rest of the
nations in achieving the targets of Paris agreement.
4. No enforcement mechanism: Under the Paris agreement, each country
determines, plans, and reports its own efforts to mitigate global warming. The
only penalty for non-compliance is a so-called “name and shame” — or “name
and encourage” — system whereby countries that fall out of compliance are
called out and encouraged to improve.
5. Issue of Equity- The Paris Agreement moved away from the principle
of common but differentiated responsibilities and all countries were
placed on an equal footing which may be detrimental to developing countries
like India.

6. Low target -The scientific community has already apprehensive about the Paris
Agreement as a solution, as temperature rise even of 1.5°C, may result in
catastrophic and irreversible changes to the planet.
7. Financial Constraints: The agreement requires rich nations to maintain a
$100bn a year funding pledge beyond 2020, which is not enough as highlighted
by several pacific island countries. Further, there is little clarity over whether
 even these financial commitments to GCF will be met by the developed
countries.
8. No liability for loss and damages: The text does talk about support for loss and
damage, but clearly specifies that this will not be considered as liability or
compensation.

Without liability and compensation there will be no scope for victims of climate
change to file legal claims, which implies that there is no guarantee that losses
and damage associated with severe weather events directly as a consequence of
climate change will receive monetary or non-monetary relief from entities that
are identified as defendants.

Way Forward
● Although India reaffirmed its INDCs commitments to meeting the goals under
the 2015 Paris Agreement but at the same time delicate balance reached
between developed and developing countries must be retained, and the
principles such as equity, climate justice and Common but Differentiated
Responsibility and Respective Capabilities must be given its due.
● Need to establish robust transparency regime for countries to disclose their
emissions.
● More clarity on how an already agreed $100 billion a year of climate finance by
2020 will be provided to the developing countries.
● The 1.5°C Report, which was produced by the IPCC in October 2018 states at
current rate of emissions, the world is set to breach the global warming limit of
1.5°C between 2030 and 2052.
Conclusion
Till now there is no planet other than earth, where human civilization can thrive.
Therefore, the challenge of climate change should only be met through global collective
action based on equity, driven by a clear commitment to multilateralism by all nations.
This will only be possible if the world rejects nationalism and parochialism and
adopts collaborative responses to the crisis.

India’s initiatives to tackle climate change.

India declared its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) to tackle

climate change in accordance with the Paris climate change accord 2015:
Salient features of India's INDC’s:
 ● To put forward and further propagate a healthy and sustainable way of living
based on traditions and values of conservation and moderation.
● To adopt a climate-friendly and a cleaner path than the one followed hitherto by
others at corresponding level of economic development.
● To reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 per cent by 2030
from 2005 level.
● To achieve about 40 per cent cumulative electric power installed
capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030.
● To create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2
equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.

International Solar Alliance (ISA)

The idea was to form a coalition of solar resource-rich countries to collaborate on

addressing the identified gaps in their energy requirements through a common
approach.

Target: ISA has set a target of 1TW of solar energy by 2030. India, with a
target to produce 100 GW of solar energy by 2022, would account for a tenth of
ISA’s goal. “India will produce 175 GW electricity from renewable sources by
2022 and 100 GW will be from solar energy.

Membership: ISA is open to 121 prospective member countries (currently 68

members), most of them located between the Tropics of Cancer and
Capricorn as this is the region worldwide with a surplus of bright sunlight for
most of the year.

ISA secretariat is in India.

Target: ISA CARES: In the wake of the global pandemic, ISA responded by
setting up ISA CARES, an initiative dedicated to deployment of solar energy in
the healthcare sector. The initiative aims to solarise one primary health sector in
each district of target member countries.

Membership: 68 countries

National Action Plan on Climate Change

● The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) was launched

in 2008 by the GoI
 ● There are 8 national missions forming the core of the NAPCC which
represent multi-pronged, long term and integrated strategies for achieving
key goals in climate change. These are-

○ National Solar Mission: under ministry of new and

renewable energy. Target to achieve 20GW solar energy
generation by 2022.
○ National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency :
under ministry of Power
○ National Mission on Sustainable Habitat: Under
ministry of urban development.
○ National Water Mission: Ministry of Water Resources, River
Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. Key target:Improving
water use efficiency by 20% through regulatory and pricing
mechanisms.
○ National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan
Ecosystem :Department of Science and Technology.
○ National Mission for A Green India : Ministry of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Focus on
promotion of afforestation and preventing deforestation.
○ National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture: Ministry
of Agriculture.
○ National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate
Change: Department of Science and Technology

UJALA Scheme
● Launched in 2015, the Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA),
has emerged as the world’s largest domestic lighting programme.
● It was launched in 2015 with a target of replacing 77 crore incandescent lamps
with LED bulbs and to nullify the high-cost of LEDs that acted as a barrier
previously in the adoption of energy-efficient systems.
● The main objective is to promote efficient lighting, enhance awareness on using
efficient equipment which reduces electricity bills and helps preserve the
environment.
 ● The Electricity Distribution Company and Energy Efficiency Services Limited
(EESL) a public sector body of the Ministry of Power is implementing the
programme.
● UJALA is a flagship project of the Govt. of India where it wants every home in
India to use LED bulbs so that the net power or energy consumption
rate comes down and the carbon emission rates can also be checked.

Vulture Conservation

Keystone species:

In any arrangement or community, the “keystone” is considered one of the most vital
parts of any type of ecosystem, a keystone species is an organism that helps hold
the system together. Without its keystone species, ecosystems would look very
different.

Some ecosystems might not be able to adapt to environmental changes if their keystone
species disappeared. That could spell the end of the ecosystem, or it could allow an
invasive species to take over and dramatically shift the ecosystem in a new direction.

The term “keystone” is derived from the wedge-type stone on an arch. Even though it
experiences the least pressure of all the stones, the entire arch would collapse without it.

The classic, generalized example is that of predators acting as the keystone

species. A single predator can keep many populations of herbivores in check, allowing
all of them to coexist. It also helps to prevent the herbivores from destroying all plant
life in the ecosystem unchecked.
Vulture as key stone species:
Because of their unique role in the ecosystem, vultures are ‘keystone species’ in many
landscapes. They cut the vector of infectious disease transmission, act as natural carcass
recyclers and are of great socioeconomic value to local communities.

Importance of Vultures in an Ecosystem:

· Vultures are very important scavengers in the ecosystem. They are often misunderstood as a
source of diseases. They feast on the decaying flesh of dead animals almost exclusively

· Removing vultures from the ecosystem leads to inefficient clearing of carcasses and
contaminates water systems.

· If dead animals are left to rot for long durations, it may give rise to disease-causing pathogens.
The animals that consume such flesh become further carriers of disease.

· Very few animals/birds can ingest rotting carcasses. Vultures are such birds. Thus, they play a
crucial role in maintaining the health of the ecosystem.

Diclofenanc use and decline in vulture population:

1) The widespread veterinary use of diclofenac led to accumulation of diclofenac in
animal carcasses. The consumption of these diclofenac laden animal carcasses led
to kidney failure in vultures due to the impact of diclofenac and a sharp decline in
vulture population.
2) Despite the official ban initiated in 2006, illegal use of diclofenac for
veterinary use has continued. BNHS tested the carcasses of lifestocks across
the country and found that 6% of the dead animals still showed traces of
diclofenac.
Steps taken for Vulture Conservation by GOI:
1) After several NSAIDs were found to kill vultures, Meloxicam, which was proven
to be safe for the raptors, has been promoted as an alternative.

2) Vulture Multi-Species Action Plan

It was adopted at the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) held in 2017. The
first strategy of the plan was launched at the CMS COP 13 held in Gandhinagar,
Gujarat, India.
The major objectives of the plan are as follows
● To reduce mortality caused due to unintentional toxic substances
● To reduce mortality due to NSAID.
● To halt the trade of vulture parts
● To stop poisoning by poache

3) Action Plan for Vulture Conservation 2020-2025.

The overdosing of cattle with painkillers, easy availability of such drugs across
the counter and their misuse complicate the vulture conservation efforts.

Objectives of the action plan include:

1. Safety testing of the available molecules of veterinary NSAIDs on vultures.

2. At least one “Vulture Safe Zone” will be set up in every state for the
conservation of the remaining populations.
3. Four rescue centres have been proposed for different geographical areas:

● Pinjore in the north

● Bhopal in central India
● Guwahati in the northeast
● Hyderabad in south India