Will COP30 turbocharge global climate change actions?

Time of India

2 days ago

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The UN calls for clawing back the temperature rise in line with the Paris agreement signed and ratified by 195 parties and subsequent COP agreements. COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan created plenty of excitement and hopes but with limited success. Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, called for stronger and decisive actions to avert climate change disasters.As on date the achievement of global emission reduction is far away from the target, necessitating timely actionable and achievable national climate plans. So, COP30 aspires to turbocharge global climate progress through implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. During COP29 the parties agreed to develop strong standards for the UN monitored international carbon market.COP30 targets to reinforce and realign the parties to focus on key targets of emission reduction. The world leaders agree that adverse impacts of climate change are far too many with increased occurrences. Extreme weather resulting in undesirable events negatively affecting economic growth and well-being of society. For example, untimely cyclones and floods severely damage the global food chain, which seriously hampers prosperity.Our World data indicates that damages to global GDP caused by extreme weather events increased from 0.10 per cent in 1960 to 0.20 per cent in 2020. During the period the quantum of GDP damage in India increased from 0.04 per cent to 0.45 per cent , which is much higher than the global level.The UN has been cohesively working on reducing the impact of climate change on the global community. The COP30 presidency started working on the leadership circles to tackle key issues 'climate finance, traditional and indigenous peoples and communities, climate governance, and global mobilisation'. The circles intend to work with multiple stakeholders to fast-track climate progress.COP29 acknowledged the imminent challenges of managing resources, more importantly arranging funds for climate finance. So, COP30 assigned the important role to the Finance Ministers Circle to develop a roadmap and strategies to mobilize $1.3 trillion annually by 2035 for meeting climate financing in developing countries.Past Presidents Circle intends to draw upon the experience of past 10 presidents since COP21 to reinforce the global climate governance and implementation.Greater involvement of academia, private players, civil society, and youth bring more inclusiveness to the decision-making process. Global community driven approaches are expected to deliver better results, however customised solutions to local problems cannot be ignored.In 2024, most of the $2 trillion climate investment happened in the developed nations. COP30 calls for smooth flow of climate investment to the regions where it is the most needed. The green climate fund (GCF) so far has funded 297 projects worth $16.7 billion, out of which 133 projects executed or under execution in developing countries.India got funding of $803.9 million for 12 projects for climate mitigation and cross-cutting purposes. Additionally, $5.6 million approved from GCF for five readiness activities.The developed nations should not shy away from their commitments, especially the investment commitment and responsibilities. The developed countries are in a better position to fund their sustainable energy transition compared to the developing and the least developed countries.A handful of developed (green) economies will not be sufficient to keep the global community happy, healthy, and safe. Therefore, the UN intends to have uniformity and harmony not only for economic prosperity but also for climate prosperity.It is important to highlight that timely and efficient emission management is impossible without knowing emissions sources, actual quantum, and inventory. Therefore, the Biennial Transparency Report (BTR) and National Inventory Document (NID) will serve as key instruments to check global emission realities. For instance, Japan's BTR acknowledges that the energy sector contributes 87.1 per cent of the emissions.Hence, it is critical to reduce or eliminate the emissions across the energy value chain. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that the oil and gas value chain is responsible for 15 per cent of total energy-related emissions. Cutting down 50 per cent emission intensities in global upstream, midstream, and downstream oil and gas operations by 2030 requires investment to the tune of $600-800 billion. A cash-rich industry like oil and gas can afford it, but lack of sufficient intent remains a dampener.In the United States, transportation, electric power industry, industry, agriculture, commercial, and residential contribute 28.4 per cent , 24.9 per cent , 22.9 per cent , 10 per cent , 7.3 per cent , and 6.2 per cent of the total emissions. The statistics indicate that transportation, power, and industry offer the maximum scope for emission reductions not only in the United States but also in many industrialised economies. Even emerging economies like India, China, and Brazil need to tackle emission issues in the above-mentioned segments.COP28 and COP29 emphasised reducing emissions, building climate resilience global community, facilitating fund arrangements for vulnerable nations, and assisting technology access for all to push forward sustained and accelerated actions to implement the UN driven collective decisions to achieve climate change goals by 2035.Further, reinforcing focus on executing 'transitioning away from fossil fuels' to sustainable solutions like solar, wind, biofuel, and green hydrogen is key to timely energy transition. In this context, fixing carbon market issues can assist concerned parties to show sustainable progress. The BTR, NID, and Intended Nationally Determined Contributions reports will help develop a centralised comprehensive data acquisition, implementation, and monitoring mechanism.COP28 and COP29 made pathbreaking agreements. Under Brazil's presidency COP30 might turbocharge global climate progress through multilateralism and consensus building pathways to execute action plans and achieve climate targets. Hopefully, COP30 stimulates the developed countries and wealthy developing countries like China to support the other developing and least developed countries to achieve their climate change goals.(The author is Professor at Department of Management Studies, Rajiv Gandhi of Petroleum Technology, Jais, India)