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Major Global Efforts to Tackle Climate Change
- The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was created in 1992 as the main forum for international action on climate change. 195 countries have joined the international agreement (known as a convention).
- It holds negotiations focus on four key areas:
- Mitigating (reducing) greenhouse gas emissions.
- Adapting to climate change.
- Reporting of national emissions.
- Financing of climate action in developing countries.
- It commits all signatory nations to formulate, implement, publish and update measures to prepare for the impacts of climate change, known as ‘adaptation’.
- In 2010, the Cancun Adaptation Framework was adopted and it was agreed that adaptation must be given the same priority as mitigation.
- The framework calls for further action on adaptation including reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience to climate change in developing countries.
- The Paris Agreement is a landmark agreement as it brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, for the first time.
- It was adopted by 196 parties at Conference of Parties (COP) 21 in Paris, in December 2015 and entered into force in November 2016.
- COP is the supreme decision-making body of the UNFCCC and all States that are Parties to the Convention are represented at the COP.
- A key task for the COP is to review the national communications and emission inventories submitted by Parties. The COP meets every year unless the Parties decide otherwise.
- The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 calls for urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
- It is intrinsically linked to all 16 of the other Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
- Major G20 Environment Related Initiatives:
- Global Coral Reef Research and Development Accelerator Platform to accelerate scientific knowledge and technology development in support of coral reef survival, conservation, resilience, adaptation and restoration.
- Circular Carbon Economy (CCE) Platform as a tool towards affordable, reliable, and secure energy and economic growth.
India’s Initiatives for Tackling Climate Change
- India has made remarkable commitments to tackle climate change and is on track to achieve its Paris Agreement targets.
- India’s renewable energy capacity is the fourth largest in the world.
- India has an ambitious target of achieving 450 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity by 2030.
- Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), announced in 2017 to pool best practices and resources from around the world for reshaping construction, transportation, energy, telecommunication and water.
- The India-France joint initiative of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) with an aim to reduce carbon footprint.
- Various National Schemes like National Action Plan on Climate Change, National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), National Biofuel Policy, etc.
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