Bound by Paris deal, says India:

Bound by Paris deal, says India:

Background

• President Donald Trump in June announced that America was withdrawing from the Paris deal, arguing that it gave undue advantage to countries like India and China.
• Amid this uncertainty, India reaffirmed its commitment to the Paris climate change agreement.

What happened?

• External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj attended UN’s Leadership Summit on Environment Pact.
• It was reiterated by the Indian side that India had been at the forefront of the debate on environment and development.
• It was willing to “work above and beyond” the pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• It was also mentioned that India and France are working together on the International Solar Alliance.

Paris Climate Change Agreement

• India, which is the world’s third largest carbon polluter, reached a pact, along with more than 190 nations, in December 2015 with an aim to prevent an increase in the global average temperature and keep it well below 2 degrees Celsius.
• The deal, which replaced the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, was ratified last October.
• It is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020.
• As of September 2017, 195 UNFCCC members have signed the agreement, 164 of which have ratified it.

International Solar Alliance

• The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an alliance of more than 121 countries, most of them being sunshine countries, which come either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
• The alliance’s primary objective is work for efficient exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
• This initiative was first proposed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The alliance is a treaty-based inter-governmental organization.
• Countries that do not fall within the Tropics can join the ISA and enjoy all benefits as other members, except for voting rights.
• The launching of such an alliance in Paris also sends a strong signal to the global communities about the sincerity of the developing nations towards their concern about climate change.