Climate responsibility

Source: The post is based on the article “What the new UN climate report reveals” published in the Business Standard on 31st October 2022.

Syllabus: GS 3 – Climate change

Relevance: About the Climate responsibility at COP 27.

News: Two issues may play an important role in the upcoming COP27 — a) Further commitment on global climate responsibility for loss and damage compensation and b) Some acceleration of commitments on mitigation actions.

How do the global countries stand on their climate responsibility?

Responsibility

The Paris agreement mentioned a “common but differentiated responsibility.” The word responsibility meant to a) Responsibility as liability: This is for the damage inflicted on others, b) Responsibility as a duty: Since climate change affects every country in the world, all have a duty to act.

Concerns associated with fixing responsibility: The Paris Agreement has a) Diluted the distinction between developed and developing countries was diluted and, b) Created a way for voluntary pledges instead of globally negotiated commitments, c) There is no standard set for the substantiality of voluntary pledges.

Loss and damage

This involves the impacts of climate change that are not avoided by mitigation, adaptation, and other measures such as disaster-risk management. It includes, for instance, extreme weather events like hurricanes and floods, the sea-level rise, etc.

Steps taken on loss and damage: This includes Santiago Network on technical assistance and an agreement at COP26 in Glasgow to have a dialogue process on the issue.

Concerns associated with the loss and damage principle: So far, the cost of financing with unavoidable loss and damage is not yet discussed. According to experts, the financing of loss and damage is even more important than support for mitigation and adaptation.

Emission-reduction plans

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has estimated the carbon emissions from 2020 to global net zero(2050) should be limited to 500 billion tonnes for a 50:50 chance of staying below a temperature increase of 1.5 degree centigrade. This is done after taking into account the likely emission of greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide.

Concerns associated with fulfilling Emission-reduction plans: The permissible average per capita per year emission over the 2020-2030 period is 1.8 tonnes of carbon dioxide. But the emissions of the USA will amount to five-seven tonnes, of China four-six tonnes, of the EU and the UK two-three tonnes.

Note: India’s average per capita per year emissions will be 1.5-2.3 tonnes.

Overall, the combination of responsibility as liability for loss and damage and responsibility as a duty to leave enough room for others will not be readily accepted by the major emitters.

What climate responsibilities needs to be finalised on COP-27?

Agreement on loss and damage: Much of the loss and damage will take place in the future as well. So, there should be an agreement to assign financing responsibility for loss and damage with the actual payments provided when the actions to manage loss and damage are undertaken.

There should also be a separation of relief measures for unpredicted adverse weather events and steady funding for measures to cope with threats like sea-level rise.

Emission-reduction plans: The pace of emission reduction depends on the announced targets for 2030, and beyond that, it will depend on the rate at which decarbonisation initiatives like renewable and nuclear energy, electrification of transport or its conversion into green hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage are implemented.

India can assert and ensure that it remains on the UNFCCC agenda and provides a basis for bringing together the vast majority of countries that are mainly victims rather than perpetrators of climate risks.