While the COP25 climate talks ended in a deadlock, all is not lost. India must ensure that during the next COP, it is hailed as a nation that has led by example
The just-concluded 25th UN conference on climate change held in Madrid was a massive climate congregation comprising 25,000 participants from across the world, including Greta Thunberg, the teenage Swedish activist. Although unrest caused the original venue, Santiago, Chile, to be changed to Madrid at the last minute, the fervor remained unchanged in the form of all-night climate debates between delegates and Ministers. In the opening address, UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, underlined the need to have an environmental course correction and stressed on the importance of increased ambition and commitment towards nature conservation.
Outcomes: A positive mood was set in motion with “ambition”, “action” and “commitment” being highlighted as the key driving forces for this year’s COP. The hashtag #TimeforAction was the official tag for the conference with stress being laid on “climate ambition alliance” to accelerate progress towards the Paris goals. But this enthusiasm fizzled out as the conference struggled to make progress on almost all fronts.
The COP25 was meant to finalise the rule book for the Paris Agreement and specific policies were to be discussed to mitigate loss and damage. It deals with unavoidable and irreversible impacts of climate change, where mitigation has failed, and adaptation is not possible. But none of them could materialise. However, COP25 sent a strong message to the participants to be well prepared as 2020 would be most critical — it marks the deadline for the carbon emission reduction targets set by participating nations. It also marks the deadline for the $100 billion in finance to be provided to the developing countries, a commitment made by the developed countries in Paris.
Barring the tepid proceedings of COP25, the Gender Action Plan (GAP) proved to be an exception. Participating Governments adopted a new five-year GAP that progressively builds upon the first one and enables gender-just climate solutions. The GAP not only aims to provide gender equality in the UNFCC processes but also takes into account human rights and challenges faced by indigenous people in ensuring climate justice and community protection.
The conference also saw vociferous representation and arguments by nations belonging to the Like Minded Developing Countries Group (LMDC), including India, in favour of an expedited climate finance corpus that could be set up by the developed nations to help the developing ones build capacity and meet climate commitments. India also raised the important issue at COP25 of whether the developed nations were actually doing enough to cut down emissions.
A lost opportunity: The dismay due to lack of meaningful progress at the COP25 was writ large. It was summed by Guterres when he expressed his personal disappointment on the outcome of COP25. Even though the conference overshot its scheduled end by over 44 hours, this year’s COP was conspicuous for its inability to reach consensus in many important areas, thanks to charged up debates that yielded no concrete decisions. As a result, pertinent matters got pushed into the next year’s conference. The discussions getting bogged down in technical debates concerning carbon market mechanisms and other issues ensured that swift conference progress becomes a casualty.
Moreover, year after year, what has been seen is a triangular disconnect between the UNFCC procedures, the aspirations of the participants and the demands of the environmental protests world over. This year’s COP was no different. The UNEP Emissions Gap Report released on the sidelines of the COP admitted the widening chasm between set goals and required action. According to the UNEP report, even if Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are met, the emissions in 2030 will still be 38 per cent higher than what is required to meet that target. Unless the UN procedures become agile and cater to the rising expectations of the global community, there’s a risk that subsequent climate conferences, too, may end up in a limbo. This can have a severe impact on the credibility of the annual COP event.
Takeaways for India: The COP25 may not have ended in taking remarkable decisions but the outcomes brought clarity to bring global green house gas emissions down to 45 per cent from 2010 levels by 2030. This was accompanied by the urgent need to limit rising global temperatures to 1.5oC. These measures will be instrumental in achieving global carbon neutrality by 2050. For India, it is critical to integrate these goals and ensure concrete progress in environmental conservation. This is possible only through a participative civil society led by a strong and committed Government.
The adoption of GAP is crucial for India, where gender-related complexities are aplenty in all spheres, including the fight against climate change. For example, the women population in the country stands at 48 per cent whereas their representation in the legislature is only 12 per cent. This watered-down representation translates into an insipid role of women in fighting climate action, justice and conservation. This skewed imbalance has become the unfortunate norm and must be challenged. The integration of GAP into Government policies can do just that and lead to equal representation of women.
During the adoption of GAP at COP25, it was specifically highlighted that proper and successful implementation by participating nations will ensure overall global success of the initiative. To make this a reality and derive equal participation of women in climate initiatives, the Government of India must focus on capacity-building and enhance implementation of gender responsive climate action at all levels in the form of gender responsive technology solutions. These measures will help secure the rightful place of women and ensure gender equality. If the Government is able to expedite GAP implementation by executing relevant policies and engaging the civil society adequately, India can proudly show the progress it has made at the next COP26 in Glasgow, the UK.
During the course of the conference, the Association of Small Island States (AOSIS) charged India, Brazil and China for blocking ambitious outcomes in Article 6 discussions pertaining to carbon markets. This negative comment on our nation was both embarrassing and avoidable. But parallelly, India, along with China, the US and the EU, accounted for almost 60 per cent of the carbon dioxide emissions in 2017. So, it is essential for India to get its act together and bring down the fossil fuel combustion levels drastically by the end of 2020 so that enough progress is visible. The fast-tracking of renewable power generation and creation of additional carbon sink for CO2 can help achieve that.
Looking ahead: A lot of expectations are now attached with COP26. Chief concern remains the loss and damage, carbon markets, transparency and, crucially, the rulebook for the Paris Agreement. Most importantly, member nations will have to boost their carbon cuts if the world is to achieve the target of limiting of global temperatures to under 1.5oC. Similarly, the developed nations will have to show intent by achieving NDCs and also extending a helping hand to the developing nations in achieving their goals as well as by providing the promised $100 billion climate finance support. Of late, COP events have become sites of protests, loophole negotiations and blame-games. This has to stop. The world must sit down as a family and discuss the imminent common threat of climate change and take sincere action.
(The writer is an environmental journalist)
