Tackling climate change

THERE is hardly any country that can claim to have not suffered the disastrous impact of climate change in the past few years — in the form of monstrous floods, droughts and rising sea levels. And what is scary is that the situation is getting worse by the day. That is, if heed is not paid to the warning signals from the report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released in October. Taking a grim view of the soaring global temperatures, the report suggested that the mercury rise be capped at 1.5°C above the pre-industrial levels in another decade. The UN Environment Programme notes that to achieve this level, carbon emission reduction targets be raised threefold. This calls for drastic measures that will ensure a clean cut in the use of fossil fuels. Most countries also need to build carbon sinks by adding to their forest cover. 

It was under these dark clouds that 200 nations brainstormed to find ways of implementing the 2015 Paris agreement at the COP24 summit in Katowice (Poland) last fortnight to avert the impending storm of environmental upheaval. Not surprisingly, in such a big grouping, it was the developing world which was left with much to be desired from the developed countries. Politics steered the talks as Brazil, and the oil-exporting countries — the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait — insisted on the watering down of the climate pledge. 

However, the tricky elements were partially resolved with a new rulebook subjecting all countries to uniform standards for providing information about progress on their targets set by themselves to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This, even as India's bid for climate justice and equity demand for prioritising the vulnerabilities and challenges of the marginalised nations remained unaddressed. The push for more funds from the rich countries for the poorer ones to meet their goals also did not yield dividends, though the developed countries agreed to revisit their financial support in 2025. That the present figure of $100 billion funding is too little can be gauged from India suffering a loss of tens of billions of dollars during a single disaster: the Kerala floods.