Climate Change

• data suggests that over the period 1880 to 2012 the average
world temperature increased by 0.85º Celsius.
• There is an increase in the quantity of greenhouse gases, such
as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, in the
atmosphere due to human activity.
• increase in the average world temperature will lead to serious
impacts on the environment.
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• Climate change experts predict that this global warming will
cause increased rainfall in many areas, increased
desertification in others, and the loss of ice cover in the polar
regions.
• Global warming will also have impacts on natural vegetation
and fauna.
• Some species will not be able to adapt well to this change of
environment and may slowly die out.
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• The most serious consequence is likely to be the impacts on
agriculture and thus food security, especially due to increased
water shortage.
• In 1988, the UN General Assembly (resolution 43/53 of 6
December 1988) recognized that “climate change” is a common
concern of mankind” which required urgent action by all States.
• INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE
• United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO) established and still co-
sponsor an independent scientific body called the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
• This body consists of over 2000 scientific and technical experts
from around the world who collect scientific information about
the causes of climate change, its potential effects and possible
ways to mitigate these effects.
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• Recently, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) released the first part of its Sixth Assessment Report
(AR6) titled Climate Change 2021.
 KEY POINTS
• The average surface temperature of the Earth will cross 1.5 °C
over pre-industrial levels in the next 20 years (By 2040)
and 2°C by the middle of the century.
• The last decade was hotter than any period of time in the
past 1,25,000 years.
• Sea-level rise has tripled compared with 1901-1971. The
Arctic Sea ice is the lowest it has been in 1,000 years.
• Coastal areas will see continued sea-level rise throughout the
21st century, resulting in coastal erosion and more frequent
and severe flooding in low-lying areas.
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• Heat extremes have increased while cold extremes have
decreased, and these trends will continue over the coming
decades over Asia.
• Heatwaves and humid heat stress will be more intense and
frequent during the 21st century over South Asia.
• The sea surface temperature over Indian ocean is likely to
increase by 1 to 2 °C when there is 1.5°C to 2°C global
warming.
United Nations Framework Convention (UNFCCC)
• adopted in New York on 9 May 1992. It entered into force on
21 March 1994.
• The objective of the UNFCCC is to stabilize greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that allows
ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change .
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• The Parties to the Convention are to be guided by a range of
principles.
• These principles include inter-generational equity, the
precautionary approach, the right to sustainable development and
the principles of equity and common but differentiated
responsibilities.
KYOTO PROTOCOL
• At COP-1 held in Berlin in 1995, the parties to the 1992 UNFCCC
recognized that the commitments in the Convention were “not
adequate” to achieve its goal.
• The outcome of this COP provided a strong political mandate (the
Berlin Mandate) for “strengthening the commitments of
developed country Parties and other Parties.
• led to the adoption of the text of the Kyoto Protocol to the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1997 Kyoto
Protocol)
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• the 1997 Kyoto Protocol covers the period beyond the year
2000 and requires stronger commitments from Annex I
parties to achieve quantified emission reductions within a
specific timeframe.
• To facilitate implementation of the commitments the 1997
Kyoto Protocol provides for the use of an innovative set of
tools, called the “flexible mechanisms”
• These flexible mechanisms allow States Parties to reduce
emissions by undertaking projects in other countries or by
trading in emission reduction credits, and then counting these
reductions towards their own emission reduction targets.
• The 1997 Kyoto Protocol establishes three flexible
mechanisms: Joint Implementation (JI), the Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM) and Emissions Trading (ET).
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THE PARIS AGREEMENT
• The Paris Agreement was adopted on 12 December 2015, at
the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) of
the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
in Paris.
• The Paris Agreement's long-term temperature goal is to keep
the rise in mean global temperature to well below 2 °C above
pre-industrial levels, and preferably limit the increase to 1.5 °C
• review countries’ commitments every five years
• provide financing to developing countries to mitigate climate
change, strengthen resilience and enhance abilities to adapt
to climate impacts.
• Under the Agreement, each country must determine, plan,
and regularly report on its contributions.
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• Article 2.2 states that the Agreement will be implemented to
reflect equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and
respective capabilities (CBDRRC), in the light of different national
circumstances.
• It recognizes the specific needs and special circumstances of
developing country Parties
• particularly the most vulnerable, and the “specific needs and
special situations of the least developed countries with regard to
funding and transfer of technology”.
• priorities of safeguarding food security and ending hunger.
• the preamble underlines that climate change is no longer
perceived as solely an environmental problem – it cuts across and
affects all areas of society.
• Parties to respect and promote: human rights; the right to health;
the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants,
children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable
situations;
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• Article 2 outlines the purpose of the Agreement.
• committing to a long-term temperature goal; enhancing adaptive
capacity and climate resilience; and making finance flows
consistent with low-emission development pathways.
Article 3. NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTIONS
• Parties can undertake and communicate their efforts on
mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology transfer and capacity
building as well as on transparency as part of their Nationally
Determined Contributions (NDCs).
• The contributions should be set every five years and are to be
registered by the UNFCCC Secretariat.
• These efforts should become progressively more ambitious over
time.
• NDCs. should contain mitigation provisions, but they may also
contain pledges on adaptation, finance, technology
transfer, capacity building and transparency
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• The Paris Agreement has been described as having a bottom-
up structure.
• its core pledge and review mechanism allows nations to set
their own NDCs, rather than having targets imposed top down.
India and Climate change
• India was the seventh most-affected by the devastating impact
of climate change globally in 2019 according to the Global
Climate Risk Index 2021
• Greenhouse gas emissions by India are the third largest in the
world and the main source is coal.
• India's Intended Nationally Determined Contribution includes
reducing emission intensity by a third by 2030.
• India's  National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC),
contains several goals for the country. 
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• The goals include: covering one third of the country with
forests and trees, increasing renewable energy supply to 6%
of total energy mix by 2022, and the further maintenance
of disaster management.