Upcoming climate summit in Egypt

(Mains GS 3 : Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.)

Context:

• Economies are worried about the damage to growth from COVID-19, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the global economy’s downturn which further aggravated the problem of climate change.

Climate catastrophe: 

• Climate catastrophe which is already resulting from the current trajectory of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions affects developing economies and the poor hardest. 
• Thus COP27 — the United Nations’ climate summit which opens in Egypt from November 6 —  needs to make real advances to stave off the worst effects of global warming. 
• This means going beyond COP21’s important Paris agreement (2015) on national commitments to cut GHG emissions and COP26’s notable Glasgow agreement (2021) to stem deforestation.

Need a breakthrough:

• Despite being in uncertain times, a breakthrough must be made in rectifying decades of lopsided emissions by rich countries. 
• They are still unwilling to offset past excesses by extending the massive financing that developing economies need for climate action. 
• More problematic is that many of their plans are woefully inadequate for reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 to help keep temperatures rise below 2°C as envisaged in the Paris agreement. 

Onus on developed countries:

• Developed countries have already shown that they can mobilise vast resources to tackle global emergencies. 
• They did this in the 2008–09 global financial crisis and spectacularly so in the $15 trillion committed in 2020 (by one estimate), by the major economies to fight COVID-19. 
• But when it comes to climate change, rich countries are failing dismally in raising the UN-goal of at least $100 billion annually in climate finance for developing countries. COP27 should move the needle on this vital area.

Message from singapore:

• Reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 is the absolute minimum for all major emitters if unthinkable scenarios of global warming are to be averted. 
• The reverberating message from COP27 should be that the price for achieving carbon neutrality is a fraction of the cost of having to adapt to an increasingly unliveable planet. 
• Ahead of COP27, Singapore has announced that it will achieve net zero emissions by 2050, a powerful signal even if coming from a country with only 0.1% of the carbon footprint.

Key takeaway from IPCC:

• A key takeaway of the IPCC report is that while bending the temperature curve to 1.5 degrees Celsius is very difficult, it is possible. 
• It demands immediate action which implies that nations including India will have to revisit their NDCs and net-zero targets if the globe is to peak before 2025, nearly halve the GHG emissions by 2030, and reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. 
• This is going to be extremely challenging for a nation like India which requires to increase its per capita GDP and will witness population growth till 2050, both strong drivers of CO2 emissions.

Vulnerability in India:

• India is one among the most vulnerable to climate change because of its exposure to climate-related disasters and the economic dependency of a high percentage of its population on climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture.
• Frequent climate calamities are also likely to create additional barriers to access of essentials like quality education, menstrual care, and appropriate nutrition. 
• In low-income families, frequent disasters lead to impoverishment, which increases the chances of girls dropping out of school.

Towards progress:

• India’s reliance on fossil fuels is extremely high and the country has set a target date of 2070 for net zero.  
• Energy is responsible for about three-fourths of GHGs in the air, and low carbon energy needs to lead the decarbonisation of the global economy.
•  India’s plan for decarbonisation, even if very gradual at present, will nevertheless need to see a massive switch to renewable energy. 
• Electric power has made progress in adopting renewables in its energy mix, but a far bigger switch from fossil fuel is needed for domestic heating and cooling.

Conclusion:

• Based on the mixed track record of past summits, expectations may not be high for what COP27 may bring. 
• But by advancing the climate agenda by choosing commitments to be backed by UN-member states that will be seen by governments to be benefiting them and putting their economies on a more environmentally sustainable path can deliver national interests in these tense economic times.