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Ecology & Environment
Mahesh

18/11/23 12:29 PM IST

COP28 in Dubai

In News
  • The World Meteorological Organisation says one of the next four years — perhaps 2023 itself — will almost certainly breach the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold.
Climate Change
  • The devastating impacts of climate change have been evident for several years now.
  • This year is set to overtake 2016 as the warmest ever — and saw almost every month setting some or the other warming record.
  • The World Meteorological Organisation says one of the next four years — perhaps 2023 itself — will almost certainly breach the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold.
  • Although temperatures have gone up rapidly, the global response to it has not kept pace.
  • A latest assessment in the new synthesis report on countries’ climate action plans, suggests that climate action agreed upon by countries so far would, in an optimistic scenario, result in just a 2 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030, from 2019 levels.
  • A 43 per cent reduction, something that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said was absolutely essential for the 1.5 degree Celsius goal, currently seems to be a pipe dream.
Challenges
  • Another UN report, among several released around this time of the year, suggests that despite a swift rise in climate risks, the amount of money being made available to developing countries for adaptation measures was actually declining, and nowhere close to the scale of the requirement.
  • Developing countries need at least $215 billion each year to do meaningful adaptation work, but barely $21 billion is actually flowing in, the Adaptation Gap report said.
  • The availability of financial resources is a perennial problem, particularly for developing and least developed countries, which face the maximum risk but are mostly dependent on financial flows from rich nations to fund their protective actions.
Renewable energy
  • Currently, the total installed capacity of renewable energy across the world is a little less than 3,400 GW — the idea is to triple it by 2030.
  • That would mean that nearly 70 per cent of all electricity in 2030 would be generated through renewable energy, instead of the 28 per cent now.
  • The International Energy Agency estimates that this single measure has the potential to avoid 7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions between now and 2030, or about 1 billion tonnes every year on an average.
  • This amount does not appear very big at first glance given emissions need to be nearly halved by 2030.
  • But considering that all other actions, put together, will reduce emissions by just a billion tonnes by 2030, it is nonetheless an extremely significant step.
Loss and Damage Fund
  • Rich countries have promised to mobilise (at least) this much in climate finance every year from 2020 — a promise they have not met.
  • The real challenge would be making progress on finalising a new amount, over and above the $100 billion figure, that has to be raised every year, starting next year.
  • The fund, meant to provide financial help to countries damaged by impacts of climate change, had been a long pending demand.
  • It was created last year, but no one put money into it.
  • The Dubai meeting is likely to see some money flowing into the fund, enough to signal to the small island countries — the biggest potential beneficiaries of this fund — that their concerns are being addressed.
Source- Indian Express

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