The Paris agreement on climate change is a bottom up mechanism based on NDCs. By reducing global warming below 2°C and following efforts to restrict it to 1.5°C, it lays out a worldwide framework to avoid severe changes. It also aims to support nations in their efforts and improve their capacity to deal with it. Regarding the execution of the Paris agreement on climate change there was a double trigger clause that it should be signed by at least 55 countries and their total emissions should be at least 55% of the global emissions.
It came in action from 3rd November 2016 with a three year lock in period which means no country can withdraw for at least 3 years from the date of enforcement that is why US applied for the withdrawal on 3rd of November 2019 but still US is a member because the negotiation process for the withdrawal take at least one year.
As far as the nature of the Paris Agreement is concerned The US has one more option that it can withdraw from UNFCCC itself. Some of the provisions are legally binding and some are not.
It is not legally binding for any country to fulfill the commitments under INDC (Intended Nationally Determined Contribution) NDC (National Development Council) but the legally binding aspect is that starting from 2023 there will be global stocktaking exercise which is mandatory for all the countries to attend and submit the progress report, by the year 2020 member countries are required to submit next NDC which should be better than the previous one.
The ambition of the next NDC will be judged by an expert committee. The criteria for judging the motivation of the NDC is whether it will help in achieving the target of 1.5 degree Celsius or not.
The Paris Agreement Goals
It is a mutual agreement as a climate change solution and prevention act. It has been put into motion to help with both mitigation and different prevention acts.
The Paris Agreement goals are :
- The main goal is to increase the effectiveness of the international response to the risk caused by climate change by limiting the rise in global temperature, to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in this century and to pursue efforts to further limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
- To reduce global warming to 1.5°C or less.
- Together the 193 Parties of the Paris agreement would cause a major increase in global greenhouse gas emissions of about 11% from 2010 levels by 2030.
- By 2030, emissions must be cut by 45%, and by 2050, they must be net zero.
- The goal is to make financial flows consistent with a low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient, climate change prevention route, and to strengthen countries’ capacity to deal with the effects of it.
- The Sustainable Development Goals must also be achieved in order for the Agreement to be executed.
Paris Agreement Mitigation
The overall goal indicated in article 2 of the Paris Agreement acts on balancing the temperature increase by 2 degree Celsius and then bringing it down to 1.5 degree Celsius which is achieved in large part through mitigation.
Earlier it was thought that 1.5 degree Celsius target net emissions of greenhouse gasses should be zero by 2017 but the special 1.5 degree Celsius report of IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has come with the suggestion that net emissions should be zero by 2050 followed by negative emissions.
It means co2 reduction from the environment should be higher than the release of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Moreover IPCC has stated that countries are required to reduce their co2 emissions by 40 % to 45 % till 2030 with 2010 as the base year.
India and other developing countries have been asking for the restructuring of the ecological space i.e. the industrialized nations should reduce their emissions in favor of developing nations and least developed countries.
If the present trend of co2 emissions continues, the carbon budget for 2 degree Celsius will be exhausted by 2030 and after that whatever emission is being made will take the temperature beyond 2 degree Celsius.
Adaptations :
Governments are only one factor in successful adaptation; other factors include the active and ongoing participation of stakeholders, such as primary levels, national, regional and international organizations, the public and private sectors, civil society, and other relevant actors, as well as efficient knowledge management. According to parties to the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement, Adaptation is a global challenge with local, subnational, national, regional, and international components.
It is complicated and requires micro modeling. The complex aspects of adaptation are:
- Water safety – According to UNFCCC Water and freshwater ecosystems can be managed wisely to provide a variety of effective solutions to reduce co2 emissions.
- For instance, the usage, distribution, storage, and treatment of water and wastewater together account for 10% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions.
- Water management and the preservation of freshwater ecosystems are crucial components of global climate change mitigation activities and strategies because wetlands contain the largest carbon stocks among terrestrial ecosystems and are yet to experience a loss rate that is 3 times higher than that of forests.
- Climate change resilient agriculture – It is a key idea in managing atmosphere risks. Resilience in this context refers to a system’s capacity to foresee, prepare for, adapt to, absorb, and recover from the effects of it and extreme weather.
- Food security i.e. weather smart agriculture.
- GM Rice
- Soil health card.
Health Risk Resilience
It affects human health in 3 ways: Directly in the form of heat wave, cold wave , drought, floods, and cyclones. Indirectly in the form of water borne diseases, vector borne diseases.
Example – psychological disorders like depression, anxiety , Post-traumatic stress disorder etc.
UNFCC has suggested 3 pathways for dealing with health issue arising from :
- Incremental i.e. to increase the presence of health infrastructure for example Mohalla clinics, primary health centers, health and wellness centers.
- Transition – it is based on the approach that unrepresented challenges require unprecedented response. It means to think out of the box. For example using Geographic Information System to prevent the breeding of the mosquitoes, using better forecasting for temperature and humidity for preventing the spread of dengue, chikungunya, malaria.
- Transformational – It is quite radical which emphasizes on dismantling the existing health approaches and building a new one.
Urban Risk Resilience
Efforts to increase urban resilience to climate change, includes both adaptation and ion techniques.
In order to contribute to long-term urban sustainability, it must be incorporated into larger development programmes and plans. Oftentimes, it is possible to improve weather resilience for little or no money by modifying current policies intended to address other urban environmental issues, like housing in risk-prone locations.
It is to have cities which can withstand challenges posed by climate change. There have been some initiatives like C 40 where the representatives of 40 cities work on strategies for dealing with it.
Disaster Risk Resilience
Treating climate change and disasters like floods, cyclones, drought in an integrated manner and disasters were treated separately for a long time but now convergence is being seen.
Disaster Risk resilience focuses on institutional linking, educational and technical components. Crucially, the UNFCCC’s definition of climate change has a tendency to focus on long-term climatic changes rather than the extremes and shocks connected to contemporary climate variability. Politically, it has become difficult to incorporate large material because of this.
Considering that disaster risk resilience is thought to be mainly interested in short-term climatic variability rather than more gradual long-term changes, there has been debate over linking adaptation to disaster risk resilience under the UNFCC.
However, interest in risk management has significantly increased in recent years as more hydro-meteorological disasters have occurred and governments have begun to recognise the significance of integrating adaptation and disaster risk resilience. .
The Nairobi Work Programme, an international framework to promote countries’ awareness of the vulnerabilities and effects, and other implementation mechanisms, such as the funding listed below, reflect this.
Conclusion
We can conclude from this article that Paris agreement has laid a great emphasis. With its goals to limit the rise in global temperature to below 2 degrees Celsius and to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius, government has taken various adaptations such as Water Management, Climate change resilient agriculture, food security, etc. along with that many steps are taken for risk resilience in Health, Urban and Disaster such as increasing health infrastructure, initiatives like C 40 and Nairobi Work Programme.
FAQs
What does the Paris Agreement do?
The Paris agreement lays out a global strategy to prevent dangerous effects of climate change. Additionally, it seeks to assist governments in their endeavors and strengthen their capacity to combat its change’s effects.
What are the 3 goals of the Paris Agreement?
The Paris Agreement’s main goal is to increase the effectiveness of the international response to the threat posed by climate change, To limit global warming to 1.5°C or less, By 2030, emissions must be cut by 45%, and by 2050, they must be net zero.
What are the five main points of Paris Agreement?
- Stabilizing the temperature increase by 2 degree Celsius.
- By 2030, emissions will be down roughly 11% from 2010 levels.
- Emissions must be reduced by 45% by 2030.
- They must achieve net zero by 2050.
- Making financial flows congruent with reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
