Jubilee Post News & Views
Dr.Seema Javed
If the world was not shaken by a global pandemic, today on 12 December2020, which marks the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreement, we would be analysing the operationalisation of the largest such inter-governmental accord.Instead, we are looking at the economic tumult brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and how this complicate climate action.
A new UN report has urged countries to implement a green pandemic recovery to close the climate action gap. The report has stated that doing so would cut around 25% off the greenhouse gas emissions projected in 2030.
The finding is crucial as another report has stated that despite the COVID-19 lockdown, major economies were planning and projecting an average annual increase of 2% in fossil fuel production. The drop in CO2 emissions thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic has not had the desired effect on the overall climate-change scenario.
Momentum for climate action is building in the health community, and health folks are getting bolder, louder and stronger on climate. In the wake of COVID-19, healthcare professionals are highly trusted voices with a big potential to influence elite and public audiences. The commentary refers to the Paris Agreement as “humanity’s most important public health goal”, showing the links with other issues.
The five-year mark also provides the first opportunity to update countries’ nationally determined contributions or NDCs, the building blocks of the joint global climate action envisioned in the Paris Agreement. Several large economies, in South Asia including Japan, China, South Korea have responded for increased ambition by announcing intent to achieve long-term net-zero emissions.
UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, will significantly raise the UK’s 2030 emissions reduction target, in a bid to accelerate decarbonisation efforts over the next decade and bolster the Prime Minister’s global climate leadership in the run up to COP26 in Glasgow next year.
The UK has a legal target to cut greenhouse gases by 61 per cent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, and the government told journalists at a briefing today that this would increase to ‘at least 68%’ per cent, which would market a 50 per cent increase in the rate of decarbonisation over the next decade.
As host of next year’s UN climate change summit in Glasgow, the UK is under pressure to demonstrate leadership by submitting a more ambitious 2030 emissions reduction target as part of an updated climate action plan – or nationally determined contribution (NDC) in support of the Paris Agreement.
For India, which has been the best performer by far on climate among the world’s big economies, this poses several important questions. The answers to these questions may be crucial for India’s development strategy for decades to come.
(Author is a senior Journalist and Environmentalist)
