Far from keeping the world safe(TH Ed)

Far from keeping the world safe(TH Ed)

Context

Much more needs to be done by the international community to truly grapple with climate change

What has happened?

The 23rd meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-23) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change concluded on November 17 in Bonn, Germany. Primary aim of the meeting was the creation of a rule book containing technical guidelines and processes which would help in ascertaining the progress made vis-à-vis Paris climate agreement

Key topics discussed

The key topics of contention were related to

• Financial support
• Mitigation action
• Differentiation
• Loss and damage

Questions raised in Bonn

• Are developed countries going to do their fair share to support poor and emerging countries, having occupied the bulk of the planet’s available carbon space?
• What actions have thus far been taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by rich countries?
• Shouldn’t there be greater emphasis to phase out coal?
• There was also some apprehension about the role of the U.S. in the discussions since President Donald Trump had earlier declared that it would leave the Paris Agreement

Fulfilling obligations: Kyoto protocol

• Actions related to the Paris Agreement are intended for 2020-2030. However, the pre-2020 period is part of the second phase of the Kyoto Protocol
• Both the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol (2005-2012) and the second (2013-2020)principally laid out the responsibilities for reducing emissions by rich countries
• However, there has been little progress and the 2012 Doha Amendment, the agreement concerning the second phase of the Kyoto Protocol, has not been ratified by a sufficient number of countries to enter into force
• Stocktaking in 2018 and 2019: Under pressure from poor and emerging economies, actions on the pre-2020 Kyoto period were added to the agenda in the first week of the Bonn meeting. As a result, in 2018 and 2019 there will be additional stocktaking on progress made on the Kyoto Protocol
• There will also be climate finance assessments and all of these will be part of the overall process undertaken before 2020

Loss & Damage obligations: Warsaw Mechanism

• Another aspect of the obligations that need to be fulfilled by big emitters is related to economic and non-economic losses under the work programme on loss and damage
• In Warsaw, Poland, COP-19 established the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage to address the destruction likely from climate change, including extreme events (such as severe storms) and slow-onset events (such as sea-level rise)

Importance of Warsaw mechanism

The establishment of this mechanism meant that the world recognised that even if the we were to drastically reduce its emissions, anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions already in the atmosphere would cause warming. In other words, developing and other vulnerable countries who have not contributed to the already existing GHGs in the atmosphere should be given economic & non-economic support

Issues unaddressed at Bonn

Loss & Damage not included in Bonn

• The Paris Agreement recognises loss and damage and calls for enhanced action and support from the parties. However, loss and damage was not included in the agenda for the Paris rule book, and this was rightly a big bone of contention with poor and developing economies
• No funds: There are no funds currently available for this stream and the discussion on this has been postponed to 2018. This is alarming given that the world has already faced numerous extreme events just in the last couple of years.

Financial support

• The issues of providing finance, technology, and building capacity for poorer countries, both to protect themselves from the effects of climate change and to help them build al ow-carbon economy were not resolved at COP-23
• Impact: Without the means of implementation, the targets set by each country in Paris will not be achieved
• Little contribution to GCF: There is also the promise of $100 billion each year by 2020 into the Green Climate Fund, which has not seen much inflow to meet the goal.

Major positives of COP23

• Policy to be ready by 2018: Negotiators moved forward on developing other details for the Paris Agreement implementation, a process that is carried out under the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement and a policy should be ready in 2018
• Steps were taken to spell out the details of the global stock-taking that will occur every five years starting in 2023 and on transparency measures that are part of the overall process
• The Bonn meeting saw the launch of the Powering Past Coal Alliance, which was led by Canada and the U.K., and joined by numerous countries and substate actors
• Headway in agriculture: A work plan was proposed by Parties on items related to climate change and agriculture, including improvements in soil fertility and carbon, management of land use and livestock maintenance

Grim data

Greenhouse gas emissions which appeared to have stabilized for a few years, probably for economic reasons, rose by 2% in 2017

Powering past coal alliance

• The Powering Past Coal Alliance was unveiled at the COP23 climate talks in Bonn, Germany. Australia isn’t part of the alliance, which also doesn’t include some of the world’s biggest coal users China, India, the United States, Germany and Russia. Coal is responsible for more than 40 per cent of global emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.
• It also involves sharing technology to reduce emissions, such as carbon capture and storage, and encouraging the rest of the world to cut usage

Members of the alliance: As of 16 November, the following governments had joined the alliance: Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Vancouver (Canada); Angola; Austria; Belgium; Canada; Costa Rica; Denmark; Finland; Fiji; France; Italy; Luxembourg; the Marshall Islands; Mexico; the Netherlands; New Zealand; Niue; Portugal; Switzerland; UK; and Washington, DC (US)

Expansion: The alliance hopes to increase its membership to 50 partners by the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 24) to the UNFCCC, which will convene in December 2018 in Katowice, Poland