CLIMATE CHANGE and COP history Flashcards
What Is Climate Change?
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, such as through variations in the solar cycle. But since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.
Burning fossil fuels generates greenhouse gas emissions that act like a blanket wrapped around the Earth, trapping the sun’s heat and raising temperatures.
Examples of greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change include carbon dioxide and methane. These come from using gasoline for driving a car or coal for heating a building, for example. Clearing land and forests can also release carbon dioxide. Landfills for garbage are a major source of methane emissions. Energy, industry, transport, buildings, agriculture and land use are among the main emitters.
Greenhouse gas concentrations are at their highest levels in 2 million years
And emissions continue to rise. As a result, the Earth is now about 1.1°C warmer than it was in the late 1800s. The last decade (2011-2020) was the warmest on record.
Many people think climate change mainly means warmer temperatures. But temperature rise is only the beginning of the story. Because the Earth is a system, where everything is connected, changes in one area can influence changes in all others.
The consequences of climate change now include, among others, intense droughts, water scarcity, severe fires, rising sea levels, flooding, melting polar ice, catastrophic storms and declining biodiversity.
Every increase in global warming matters
In a series of UN reports, thousands of scientists and government reviewers agreed that limiting global temperature rise to no more than 1.5°C would help us avoid the worst climate impacts and maintain a livable climate. Yet based on current national climate plans, global warming is projected to reach around 3.2°C by the end of the century.
The emissions that cause climate change come from every part of the world and affect everyone, but some countries produce much more than others. The 100 least-emitting countries generate 3 per cent of total emissions. The 10 countries with the largest emissions contribute 68 per cent. Everyone must take climate action, but people and countries creating more of the problem have a greater responsibility to act first.
We face a huge challenge but already know many solutions
Many climate change solutions can deliver economic benefits while improving our lives and protecting the environment. We also have global frameworks and agreements to guide progress, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement. Three broad categories of action are: cutting emissions, adapting to climate impacts and financing required adjustments.
Switching energy systems from fossil fuels to renewables like solar or wind will reduce the emissions driving climate change. But we have to start right now. While a growing coalition of countries is committing to net zero emissions by 2050, about half of emissions cuts must be in place by 2030 to keep warming below 1.5°C. Fossil fuel production must decline by roughly 6 per cent per year between 2020 and 2030.
UNFCCC
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international environmental treaty to combat “dangerous human interference with the climate system”, in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. It was signed by 154 states at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992. It established a Secretariat headquartered in Bonn, Germany, and entered into fORCe on 21 March 1994.
The treaty called for ongoing scientific research and regular meetings, negotiations, and future policy agreements designed to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner.
Signed 4–14 June 1992
20 June 1992 – 19 June 1993
Location Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
New York, United States
Effective 21 March 1994
Condition Ratification by 50 states
Signatories 165
Parties 198
HEAD- SCRETARY OF THE UN GENERL ASSEMBLY, ANTONIO GUETERRES
Targets linked to the environment:
SDG13-CLIMATE ACTION
Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries
Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning
Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning
Target 13.a: Implement the commitment undertaken by developed-country parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion annually by 2020 from all sources to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation and fully operationalize the Green Climate Fund through its capitalization as soon as possible
Target 13.b: Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least developed countries and small island developing States, including focusing on women, youth and local and marginalized communities
What’s the World Economic Forum doing about climate change?
The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report continues to rank these environmental threats at the top of the list.
To limit global temperature rise to well below 2°C and as close as possible to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, it is essential that businesses, policy-makers, and civil society advance comprehensive near- and long-term climate actions in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change.The World Economic Forum’s Climate Initiative supports the scaling and acceleration of global climate action through public and private-sector collaboration. The Initiative works across several workstreams to develop and implement inclusive and ambitious solutions.
This includes the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, a global network of business leaders from various industries developing cost-effective solutions to transitioning to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy. CEOs use their position and influence with policy-makers and corporate partners to accelerate the transition and realize the economic benefits of delivering a safer climate.
From 1800 to COP26: A history of key climate conversations
Here are some key moments in the global climate conversation:
1800s - Throughout the 1800s, several European scientists study how different gases and vapours can trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere. In the 1890s, Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius calculates the temperature effect of a doubling of atmospheric CO2, showing that burning fossil fuels would likely warm the planet.
1938 - By compiling historical weather data, British engineer Guy Callendar for the first time shows the planet’s temperatures are rising in the modern era. He correlates the temperature trends with measured rises in atmospheric CO2, and proposes the temperature change is linked.
1958 - American scientist Charles David Keeling starts systematically measuring atmospheric CO2 levels over Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory. His findings result in the “Keeling Curve,” a graph showing CO2 concentrations steadily increasing.
1988 - James Hansen, an American climate scientist, testifies before Congress that the planet is warming because of a human-caused buildup of greenhouse gasses, and notes that this is already altering the climate and weather.
1990 - At the U.N.’s so-called Second World Climate Conference, scientists highlight the risks of global warming to nature and society. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher says binding emissions targets are needed.
1992 - Countries sign onto the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change at the Rio Earth Summit. The UNFCCC’s goal is to control emissions to prevent extreme climate change, but it also enshrines the idea of “common but differentiated responsibilities,” meaning developed countries must do more because they are responsible for most historical emissions. The treaty does not set out binding emissions targets.
1995 - UNFCCC treaty members gather for a first “conference of parties,” or COP, in Berlin. The final document calls for legally binding emissions targets.
1997 - At COP3 in Kyoto, Japan, parties agree to the first treaty that requires specific emissions reductions. Under the Kyoto Protocol, developed countries are obligated to reduce emissions between 2008 and 2012 from 1990 levels, with different limits assigned to different countries. In the United States, key Senate Republicans denounce the accord as “dead on arrival.”
2001 - U.S President George W. Bush takes office and calls the Kyoto Protocol “fatally flawed,” with his rejection signaling the country’s effective exit.
2005 - The Kyoto Protocol goes into effect after Russia ratifies it, fulfilling the requirement that at least 55 countries accounting for at least 55% of emissions ratify the treaty.
2007 - Delegates agree at COP13 in Bali to work on a new binding agreement to include both developed and developing countries.
2009 - COP15 talks in Copenhagen nearly collapse amid wrangling over binding commitments for when the Kyoto Protocol expires. Instead of creating a new framework, as proposed by the Bali Roadmap, countries vote to “take note of” a nonbinding political statement.
2010 - COP16 in Cancun again fails to set new binding emissions targets. The Cancun Agreements, however, establish a Green Climate Fund to aid developing nations with adaptation and mitigation, and set a goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial average.
2011 - COP17 talks in Durban, South Africa falter after China, the United States and India refuse to sign onto binding emissions cuts before 2015. Instead, the UNFCCC parties agree to extend the Kyoto Protocol through 2017.
2012 - As Russia, Japan, and New Zealand resist new emissions targets that do not extend to developing nations, countries agree at COP18 in Doha to extend the Kyoto Protocol through 2020.
2013 - At COP19 in Warsaw, representatives from poorer nations walk out for several hours over the lack of agreement on how to handle climate-related losses and damage. A watered-down deal is eventually reached.
2015 - Global warming passes 1 degree Celsius. Extreme weather events including floods, droughts and wildfires continue to get more frequent and more severe around the globe, and countries are increasingly confronted with these immediate climate change threats.
2015 - The Paris Agreement is the first global pact to call for emissions pledges from both developed and developing countries, who are asked to pledge Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), with increasing ambition every five years. Signatories promise to try to keep global warming within 1.5 degrees C of the preindustrial average.
2017 - President Donald Trump calls the Paris treaty bad for the economy and says the United States will withdraw. That becomes official in 2020.
2018 - Teen activist Greta Thunberg captures global attention while protesting outside Swedish parliament, and over time rallies youths across the world to join her Fridays for the Future movement to demand climate action.
2019 - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls the lack of ambition shown at COP25 in Madrid a lost opportunity.
2020 - The annual COP is postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
2021 - One of U.S. President Joe Biden’s first acts in office is to rejoin the Paris Agreement.
2021 - COP26 is scheduled to go ahead Oct. 31-Nov. 12 in Glasgow. Key points to be discussed include emissions pledges, climate financing, and phasing out coal use.
COP21
PARIS
What is the Paris Agreement?What is the Paris Agreement?
The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016.
Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate neutral world by mid-century.
The Paris Agreement is a landmark in the multilateral climate change process because, for the first time, a binding agreement brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.
How does the Paris Agreement work?
Implementation of the Paris Agreement requires economic and social transformation, based on the best available science. The Paris Agreement works on a 5- year cycle of increasingly ambitious climate action carried out by countries. By 2020, countries submit their plans for climate action known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
NDCs
In their NDCs, countries communicate actions they will take to reduce their Greenhouse Gas emissions in order to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement. Countries also communicate in the NDCs actions they will take to build resilience to adapt to the impacts of rising temperatures.
Long-Term Strategies
To better frame the efforts towards the long-term goal, the Paris Agreement invites countries to formulate and submit by 2020 long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies (LT-LEDS).
LT-LEDS provide the long-term horizon to the NDCs. Unlike NDCs, they are not mandatory. Nevertheless, they place the NDCs into the context of countries’ long-term planning and development priorities, providing a vision and direction for future development.
How are we tracking progress?
With the Paris Agreement, countries established an enhanced transparency framework (ETF). Under ETF, starting in 2024, countries will report transparently on actions taken and progress in climate change mitigation, adaptation measures and support provided or received. It also provides for international procedures for the review of the submitted reports.
The information gathered through the ETF will feed into the Global stocktake which will assess the collective progress towards the long-term climate goals.
This will lead to recommendations for countries to set more ambitious plans in the next round.
What have we achieved so far?
Although climate change action needs to be massively increased to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, the years since its entry into force have already sparked low-carbon solutions and new markets. More and more countries, regions, cities and companies are establishing carbon neutrality targets. Zero-carbon solutions are becoming competitive across economic sectors representing 25% of emissions. This trend is most noticeable in the power and transport sectors and has created many new business opportunities for early movers.
By 2030, zero-carbon solutions could be competitive in sectors representing over 70% of global emissions.
COP26
INDIA AND COP26
Consensus on the unresolved issues of the PARIS agreement rulebook, long term cllimate finance and, market-based mechanisms.
sustainable land use, energy transition,low emmission vehicle transition, climate finance and adaptation.
COP26
International SOLAR Alliance, Coaltion Disaster Resilient Infrastructure(CDRI), leadership group for industry transition(LeadIT group), Call for Action on Adaptation and Resilience and Mission Innovation.
*Countries are being asked to come forward with ambitious 2030 emmissions reductions targets that align with reaching NET-ZERO by mid century
* Adapt to protect natural habitats and communities.
What are INDIA’s demands?
*NET-ZERO BY 2050– to secure GLOBAL NET ZERO BY 2050 and keep the 1.5 degrees within reach.
