Backsliding on climate action

Source: This post is based on the article “Backsliding on climate action” published in The Hindu on 26th July 2022.

Syllabus: GS 3 – Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation.

Relevance: About the challenges in climate policies.

News: Climate policies around the world are facing significant challenges.

What are the challenges faced by EU climate policies?

a) Coal exports to Europe are surging after Germany, Austria and the Netherlands have started their coal plants again, b) Countries in Europe are rejecting the European Union (EU)’s plan to reduce natural gas consumption by 15% and c) Dutch, Polish and other European farmers are protesting against emission cuts from agriculture.

What are the challenges faced by other countries on climate policies?

The U.S.: The prices of fuel are increasing. This is causing inflation and a threat to energy security. This shows coal, oil and gas are not going anywhere in the developed world.

The developed countries also failed to mobilise $100 billion per year by 2020.

Many developing countries are facing unrest due to skyrocketing energy prices. This is threatening their governments.

What does the term global net-zero mean according to the Paris Agreement?

Article 4 of the Paris Agreement defines ‘Global Peaking’. This means parties aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, recognizing that peaking will take longer for developing country Parties.

Similarly, the term global net-zero logically means that when developing country parties will achieve net-zero later than developed countries. Hence, the developing countries can only be achieved if developed countries reach net zero earlier than 2050.

The agreement, therefore, calls on developed countries to “do a net negative” on mitigation by 2050 rather than just “net zero”, if they are serious about fighting climate change. Any other interpretation will be contrary to Article 4.

How developing countries will be forced to compensate for climate policy failures?

The EU Commissioner of Climate Action and Energy signalled that the U.S. can downgrade its pledge under the Paris deal. If the G7 countries start downgrading their pledges, then they expect the Global South to compensate.

The “global stocktake” of the Paris Agreement will be done in 2023 to assess the world’s collective progress towards achieving its long-term goals. In the current scenario, this stocktake will provide the developed countries with the right forum to shift the burden of their mitigation commitments on developing countries, knowing well that they will not be able to meet theirs by 2030.

What should the developing countries do to uphold climate policies?

With countries of the developed world almost sure to withdraw from their 2030 Paris Agreement commitment, the developing countries must do everything to hold the countries of the developed world to their commitments.

COP 27 in Egypt gives the developing countries an opportunity to hold the developed to make their net minus pledges. If the developing countries failed to collectively push for it, then the world will be collectively pushed back.