CLIMATE CHANGE ORGANISATIONS

Climate change continues to increase the rate of extreme weather events, disrupt ecosystems & cause sea levels to rise, according to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. Fortunately, there are hundreds of organizations around the globe that are working collaboratively & inclusively to find solutions. By engaging eaters, community activists, policymakers, artists, families & more they are helping people step up & hopefully save the planet.

1. UNFCCC

• UN Summit Conference on Environment & Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 adopted by consensus, the first multilateral legal instrument on climate change, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change or the UNFCCC.
• In 1992, countries joined UNFCCC, to cooperatively consider what they could do to limit average global temperature increases & the resulting climate change & to cope with whatever impacts were, by then, inevitable. There are 195 Parties to the Convention.
• All subsequent multilateral negotiations on different aspects of climate change, including both adaptation & mitigation are being held based on the principles & objectives set out by the UNFCCC.
• The UNFCCC secretariat supports all institutions involved in the international climate change negotiations, particularly the Conference of the Parties (COP), the subsidiary bodies & the COP Bureau which deals mainly with procedural & organizational issues arising from the COP & also has technical functions.

1.1. Kyoto Protocol (KP)

• By 1995, countries realized that emission reduction provisions in the Convention were inadequate.
• They launched negotiations to strengthen the global response to climate change & 2 years later, adopted the Kyoto Protocol.
• The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan in 1997. Due to the complex ratification process, it entered into force in 2005.
• In short, the Kyoto Protocol is what operationalizes the Convention. It commits industrialized countries to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions based on the principles of the Convention.
• The major distinction between the Protocol & the Convention is that while the Convention encouraged industrialized countries to stabilize GHG emissions, the Protocol commits them to do so.

Targets:

• KP sets binding emission reduction targets for 37 industrialized countries & the European community in its first commitment period.
• KP places a heavier burden on developed nations under its central principle of “common but differentiated responsibility”.
• It only binds developed countries because it recognizes that they are largely responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere, which are the result of more than 150 years of industrial activity.
• Overall, these targets add up to an average 5% emissions reduction compared to 1990 levels over the 5 years 2008-2012.

The architecture of the KP Regime:

The Kyoto Protocol is made up of essential architecture which was built & shaped over almost two decades of experience, hard work & political will. The KP is made up of:

• Reporting & verification procedures
• Flexible market-based mechanisms, which in turn have their governance procedures
• A compliance system.

Things that make KP tick:

Emission Reduction Commitments:

• The first was binding emissions reduction commitments for developed country parties. This meant the space to pollute was limited.
• Greenhouse gas emissions, most prevalently carbon dioxide, became a new commodity. KP began to internalize what was now recognized as an unpriced externality.

Flexible Market Mechanisms:

• This leads us to the second, the flexible market mechanisms of the KP, based on the trade of emissions permits. KP countries bound to targets have to meet them largely through domestic action to reduce their emissions onshore.
• They can meet part of their targets through three market-based mechanisms that ideally encourage GHG abatement to start where it is most cost-effective. It does not matter where emissions are reduced, as long as they are removed from the planet’s atmosphere.
• The Kyoto Flexible Market Protocol mechanisms:

1. The clean development mechanism (CDM)
2. Joint Implementation (JI)
3. Emission trading

Objectives:

Its objective is to facilitate, promote & enforce compliance with the commitments under the Protocol.

• Stimulate sustainable development through technology transfer & investment.
• Help countries with Kyoto commitments to meet their targets by reducing emissions or removing carbon from the atmosphere in other countries in a cost-effective way.
• Encourage the private sector & developing countries to contribute to emission reduction efforts.

Joint Implementation:

• ‘Joint Mechanism’ allows a country with an emission reduction or limitation commitment under the Kyoto Protocol to earn emission-reduction or emission removal projects in another Annex B party, each equivalent to one ton of CO₂, which can be counted towards meeting its Kyoto target.
• Joint implementation offers Parties a flexible & cost-efficient means of fulfilling a part of their Kyoto commitments, while the host party benefits from foreign investment & technology transfer.
• Projects starting from the year 2000 may be eligible as JI projects, ERU issued from 2008.

Clean Development Mechanism:

• It is the first global, environmental investment & credit scheme of its kind, providing a standardized emissions offset instrument.
• Such projects can earn saleable certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one ton of carbon dioxide, which can be counted towards meeting Kyoto targets.

Carbon Trading:

• Carbon trading is the name given to the exchange of emission permits. This exchange may take place within the economy or may take the form of an international transaction.
• Two types of carbon trading: 1) Emission Trading and 2) Offset Trading

Emission Trading/ Cap & Trade:

• Emission permit is known alternatively as a carbon credit. For Annex 1 country, the protocol has assigned a fixed amount of carbon emission in the agreement. This amount is the amount of emission which is to be reduced by the concerned country.
• The total amount of allowance is then subdivided into certain units. The units are expressed in terms of carbon equivalent.
• Each unit gives the owner the right to emit one metric ton of carbon dioxide or other equivalent greenhouse gases.

Offset Trading/ Carbon Project/ Base-line Credit Trading:

• Another variant of carbon credit is to be earned by a country by investing some amount of money in such projects, known as carbon projects, which will emit a lesser amount of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere.
• According to an estimate made by the World Bank’s carbon finance unit, the volume of carbon trade through the emission trading route alone had shown a 240% increase in 2005 over the previous year.

Benefits of Flexible Market Mechanisms:

• This has the parallel benefits of stimulating green investment in developing countries & of including the private sector in this endeavour to cut & hold steady GHG emissions at a safe level.
• It makes ‘leap-frogging’ more economical that is the possibility to skip older, dirtier technology for newer, cleaner infrastructure & systems, with obvious longer-term benefits.
• The Kyoto Protocol compliance mechanism is designed to strengthen the Protocol’s environmental integrity, support the carbon market’s credibility & ensure transparency of accounting by Parties.

Non-Compliance of Kyoto & Penalties:

• If a country does not meet the requirements for measurements & reporting said country loses the privilege of gaining credit through joint implementation projects.
• If a country goes above its emissions cap & does not try to make up the difference through any of the mechanisms available, then said country must make up the difference plus an additional 30% during the next period.
• The country could be banned from participating in the ‘cap & trade’ programme.

1.2. Bali Meet

Bali Meet was the meeting of 190 countries that are party to a UN treaty on climate change held in 2007.

Objectives:

• The treaty aimed to push the world towards taking action that reduces the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which cause climate change.
• Bali was to discuss what happens after 2012-the countries expected to do after the first phase of Kyoto ends in 2012.
• As per developed countries, after 2012, even developing countries like India, and China, which are increasing their emissions as they grow economically, undertake some kind of emission cuts. This meant a complete overhaul of the existing UN treaty.
• In Bali, the nations have decided on a new set of principles that will help the countries decide on a post-2012 deal.

Bali Roadmap:

The participating nations adopted the Bali Roadmap as a 2-year process to finalise a binding agreement in 2009 in Copenhagen.

The Bali Roadmap includes-

• The Bali Action Plan (BAP)
• Launch of the Adaptation Fund
• The Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex 1 Parties under the Kyoto Protocol negotiations & 2009 deadline.
• Decisions on technology transfer
• On reducing emissions from deforestation.

Bali Action Plan:

The Conference of Parties decided to launch a comprehensive process to enable the implementation of the Convention through long-term cooperative action up to & beyond 2012, by addressing:

• A shared vision for long-term cooperative action, including a long-term global goal for emission reductions.
• Enhanced action on adaptation
• Enhanced national/international action on mitigation of climate change
• Enhanced action on technology development & transfer to support action on mitigation & adaptation.
• Enhanced action on the provision of financial resources & investment to support action on mitigation & adaptation technology cooperation.

1.3. COP 15 Copenhagen Summit

• A legally binding agreement could not be arrived at & at COP 15, Copenhagen mainly due to discord between developing & developed nations.
• The Copenhagen Accord is a non-binding agreement. The Accord states that deep international emissions cuts are needed to hold the increase in global temperature to under 2⁰
• Under the Accord, developed countries agree to set targets for reductions in their greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
• Developing countries agree to pursue nationally appropriate mitigation strategies to slow the growth of their emissions, but are not committed to reducing their carbon output.
• Recognizes the need to establish a mechanism to enable the mobilization of financial resources from developed countries to help achieve this.
• Agrees a ‘goal’ for the world to raise $100 billion per year by 2020. New multilateral funding for adaptation will be delivered, with a governance structure.

1.4. COP 16 CANCUN SUMMIT

• The Cancun Agreements include decisions under both the Convention & Kyoto Protocol negotiating tracks.
• As per the Cancun Agreements, all parties to the Convention have agreed to report their voluntary mitigation goals for implementation.
• These will be subjected to measurement & verification or international consultation, as appropriate, by agreed international guidelines.

Cancun Agreements:

• Industrialized country targets are officially recognized under the multilateral process & these countries are to develop low-carbon development plans & strategies & assess how best to meet them, including through market mechanisms & to report their inventories annually.
• A total of $30 billion in fast-start finance from industrialized countries to support climate action in the developing world up to 2012 & the intention to raise $100 billion in long-term funds by 2020 are included in the decisions.
• In the field of climate finance, a process to design a ‘Green Climate Fund’ under the Conference of the parties, with a Board, with equal representation from developed & developing countries, is established.
• A new Cancun Adaptation Framework is established to allow better planning & implementation of projects in developing countries through increased financial & technical support, including a clear process for continuing work on loss & damage.
• Governments agree to boost action to curb emissions from deforestation & forest degradation in developing countries with technological & financial support.

Mechanism of COP 16:

Three mechanisms that are the outcome of COP 16 are-

1. Green climate fund
2. Technology Mechanism
3. Adaptation fund.

Technology Mechanism:

• A technology Mechanism, under the guidance & accountability to the Conference of the Parties (COP), was established by the 16^th session of the COP in Cancun in 2010.
• The technology Mechanism is expected to facilitate the implementation of enhanced action on technology development & transfer to support action on mitigation & adaptation to climate change.

Green Climate Fund:

• At COP16, parties established a Green Climate Fund (GCF) as an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the Convention under Article 11.
• The GCF will support projects, programmes, policies & other activities in developing country Parties. The Fund will be governed by the GCF Board.
• The COP decided that an independent secretariat would support the operations of the Fund. The COP also decided that the GCF was to be designed by the Transitional Committee (TC).

Adaptation Fund:

• The Adaptation Fund was established to finance concrete adaptation projects & programmes in developing countries Parties to the Kyoto Protocol that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.
• The Adaptation Fund is financed from the share of proceeds on the clean development mechanism project activities & other sources of funding.
• The share of proceeds amounts to 2% of certified emission reductions (CERs) issued for a CDM project activity.
• The Adaptation Fund is supervised & managed by the Adaptation Fund Board (AFB).
• The AFB is composed of 16 members & 16 alternates, meeting at least twice a year.
• The Global Environment Facility (GEF) provides secretariat services to the AFB & the World Bank and serves as trustee of the Adaptation Fund, both on an interim basis.

1.5. COP 17 Durban Summit

New global climate change regime:

India had gone to Durban with two major demands that the principle of equity remain intact in any new climate regime & that this new global deal be launched after 2020.

Outcome:

• The second phase of the Kyoto Protocol secured
• New deal to be finalized by 2015 & launched by 2020.
• Green Climate Fund launched, though empty as yet Green tech development mechanism put in place.
• Adaptation mechanism
• Transparency mechanism
• Equity finds place back in future climate talks
• Secures 10 years of economic growth without carbon containment Intellectual Property Rights & technology are not as well anchored in the New Deal
• Agriculture brought in by developed nations under climate change

1.6. Doha Outcomes COP 18, 2012

Global Climate Change Agreement:

Governments agreed to work towards a universal climate change agreement by 2015 covering all countries which will come into effect in 2020.

Amendment of the Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is the only existing & binding agreement under which developed countries undertake quantitative commitments to cut greenhouse gases. It was amended so that it could seamlessly continue.

• The Kyoto Protocol’s Market Mechanisms clean development mechanism (CDM), joint implementation (JI) and International Emissions Trading (IET) will continue.
• Access to the mechanisms remains uninterrupted for all developed countries that have accepted targets for the second commitment period.
• A key element was added to the measurement, reporting & verification (MRV) framework for developed countries with the adoption of the tables for the biennial reports known as common tabular format, thereby strengthening transparency & the accountability regime.

Completion of new Infrastructure:

• In Doha, the government advanced the completion of new infrastructure to channel technology & finance to developing nations & move towards the full implementation of this infrastructure & support.
• UNEP-led consortium will be host of the climate technology centre (CTC), for an initial term of five years.
• The CTC, along with its associated Network, is the implementing arm of the UNFCCC technology mechanism.
• Governments agreed on the constitution of the Climate Technology Centre Network (CTCN) Advisory Board.

1.7. Warsaw Outcomes, COP 19, 2013

2015 Agreement:

The government advanced the timeline for the development of the 2015 agreement. Nationally determined contributions would be put forward in a clear & transparent manner.

Closing the pre-2020 ambition gap-

Governments resolved to strengthen measures to close the ‘ambition gap between what has been pledged to date & what is required to keep the world below a maximum average 2⁰ C temperature before the new agreement enters into force in 2020.

Additionally, governments urge the voluntary cancellation of Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism.

Strengthening Efforts:

• To mobilize USD 100 billion annually by 2020 to support developing countries in their climate change actions, developed countries agreed to make their efforts on a biennial basis from 2014-2020.
• The Green Climate Fund is open for business & will begin its initial resource mobilization process in the middle of 2014.

Cutting Emissions from Deforestation:

• Governments agreed on a set of decisions on ways to reduce emissions from deforestation & forest degradation.
• Global deforestation accounts for some 20% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions.
• The set of decisions bolsters forest preservation & sustainable use of forests with direct benefits for people who live in & around forests.

Progress on driving adaptation:

 Developed countries met the target capitalization of USD 100 million for the Adaptation Fund, which can now continue funding priority projects.

Progress towards Accountability:

The framework for measuring, reporting & verifying mitigation efforts, including by developing countries, is now fully operational. It is an important agreement cause it means that the mitigation, sustainability & support efforts of countries can now be better measured.

Technology to boost action on Climate Change:

CTCN, established in Cancun in 2010, has now moved to the operational stage to support action by developing countries in response to their requests for support through their national designated entities.

1.8. LIMA Outcomes, COP 20, 2014:

• The Lima Climate Conference achieved ‘firsts’ in the history of the international climate process.
• Pledges were made by both developed & developing countries before & during the COP that took the capitalization of the new Green Climate Fund (GCF) past an initial $10 billion target.
• Levels of transparency & confidence-building reached new heights as several industrialized countries submitted themselves to questioning about their emissions targets under a new process called a Multilateral assessment.

Steps Forward on Adaptation:

• Progress was made in Lima on elevating adaptation to the same level as the curbing & cutting of greenhouse gas emissions. This will be done through National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).
• NAPs will be made more visible via the UNFCCC website which should improve the opportunity for receiving backing.
• A NAP Global Network was launched involving Peru, the US, Germany, the Philippines, Togo, the UK, Jamaica & Japan.

Doha Amendment:

Nauru & Tuvalu submitted their instrument of acceptance to the Doha amendment, bringing the number of Parties to 21. Acceptance of 144 countries is required to bring it into force.

New Climate Action Portal:

Peru launched a new portal, Nazca Climate Action Portal, with support from the UNFCCC, to increase the visibility of the wealth of climate action among cities, regions, companies & investors, including those under international cooperative initiatives.

Lima Work Programme:

The Lima conference agreed on a Lima Work Programme on Gender to advance gender balance & to promote gender sensitivity in developing & implementing climate policy.

UNFCCC NAMA Day:

A special event took place on actions to reduce emissions with the help of “Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions” (NAMAs).

NAMAs are plans of developing countries to reduce emissions & to develop sustainably which can be supported by developed countries.

The UNFCCC secretariat established a registry to match requests for & offers of support.

Climate Action on the Ground Celebrated by the UN:

The UNFCCC secretariat’s Momentum for Change initiative presented awards to representatives of some of the best examples of climate solutions in the world which inspire increased climate action.

1.9. Paris Climate Change Conference COP 21, 2015

Objectives:

• To hold the increase in global average temperature well below 2⁰C above pre-industrial levels.
• To pursue efforts to limit temperature increase to 1.5⁰C above pre-industrialized levels, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks & impacts of climate change.
• The Agreement talks about reaching the global peaking of emissions by the second half of the country, recognizing that peaking will take longer for developing country Parties.

Nationally Determined Contributions:

• The Paris Agreement requires all Parties to put forward their best efforts through “Nationally Determined Contributions”(NDCs) & to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead.
• In 2018, Parties will take stock of the collective efforts to progress towards the goal set in the Paris Agreement & to inform the preparation of NDCs.
• There will be a global stocktake every 5 years to assess the collective progress towards achieving the purpose of the agreement & to inform further individual actions by Parties.
• The Paris Agreement entered into force in November 2016. The first session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Paris Agreement (CMA1) took place in Morocco in November 2016.
• The agreement defines parties’ basic obligations & establishes new procedures & mechanisms. But for these to be fully operational, their details must be further elaborated.
• This requires the adoption by parties of an extensive set of decisions known loosely as the “Paris Rule Book”.

 1.10. Marrakech Climate Change Conference-COP22, 2016

Beyond developing the Paris rulebook, parties took action & made announcements on a range of other issues including-

Finance:

The Paris Agreement requires developed countries to provide biennial reports on financial support provided or mobilized through public inventions & on projected levels of future support.

In Marrakech, SBSTA began considering how to account for public finance. Issues include whether the accounting should apply only to flows from developed to developing countries or broader flows of public finance.

Global Stocktake:

Parties began discussing how to structure the stock take, including its format, inputs, timeline, duration & output and its linkage to other elements of the Paris architecture.

Adaptation Fund:

One holdover issue from Paris was whether the adaptation Fund established under the Kyoto Protocol, which provides adaptation support to developing countries, would continue under the Paris Agreement.

Although developed countries would prefer to channel support through the newly established Green Climate Fund, developing countries pushed very hard to keep the Adaptation Fund alive.

Parties decided the fund ‘should serve the Paris Agreement’, pending decisions on governance & other issues.

Facilitative Dialogue 2018:

In Paris, anticipating that the Paris Agreement would not be in force for several years, parties decided to conduct an early stock take through a facilitative dialogue in 2018.

In Marrakech, parties asked the presidencies of COP 22 & COP 23 to jointly undertake consultations on how to organize the facilitative dialogue & to report back at COP23.

Mid-Century Strategies:

The Paris Agreement encourages countries to prepare & submit ‘long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies’ outlining the kinds of actions needed to achieve much deeper emission reductions.

A new initiative called the 2050 Pathway Platform was launched, with support from a broad array of national governments, cities, states & companies to help each other countries develop their mid-century strategies.

Finance:

Heading into Marrakech, developed countries released a roadmap outlining how they foresee meeting the goal of mobilizing $100 billion a year in public & private finance for developing countries by 2020.

New Financial Pledges:

$23 million for the Climate Technology Centre & Network (CTCN), which provides technical assistance & capacity building for developing countries.

More than $50 million for the capacity-building initiative for transparency established in Paris to help developing countries build the capacity to meet new transparency requirements.

Loss & Damage:

Parties conducted the first review of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss & Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts (WIM). The Mechanism, established as an interim body at COP 19 & subsequently brought under the Paris Agreement, is charged with developing approaches to help vulnerable countries cope with unavoidable climate impacts, including extreme weather events & slow-onset events like sea-level rise.

1.11. Bonn-Climate Change Conference-COP23, 2017

Fiji presided over UNFCCC’s COP23 in Bonn. COP23 took place in Bonn, Germany, in 2017.

Powering Past Coal Alliance:

It was launched in COP23, Bonn & led by UK & Canada. It has more than 20 members aimed at accelerating clean growth & achieving the rapid phase-out of traditional coal power.

Alliance declares that the coal phase-out is required in the OECD & EU 28 by 2030 & no later than 2050 in the rest of the world to meet the Paris Agreement. But it does not commit signatories to any particular phase-out date.

Fiji’s COP:

Fiji is the first small island state to host the UNFCCC climate talks.

The outcomes were:

• Local communities & indigenous people’s platform aims to support the exchange of experience & sharing of best practices on mitigation & adaptation.
• Gender Action Plan: highlights the role of women in climate action & promotes gender equality in the process.
• Ocean Pathway Partnership: a two-track strategy for 2020 supporting the goals of the Paris Agreement that include- 1) increasing the role of the ocean considerations in the UNFCCC process; 2) significantly increasing action in priority areas impacting or impacted by the ocean & climate change.

 Talanoa Dialogue:

Talanoa is a traditional word used in Fiji & across the Pacific to reflect a process of inclusive, participatory & transparent dialogue.

It is a process designed to help countries implement & enhance their Nationally Determined Contributions by 2020. The process of Talanoa involves the sharing of ideas, skills & experience through storytelling.

Insu Resilience Global Partnership:

The Insu Resilience Global Partnership for Climate & Disaster Risk Finance & Insurance Solutions was launched at the UN Climate Conference COP23 in Bonn.

Its vision is to strengthen the resilience of developing countries & to protect the lives & livelihoods of poor & vulnerable people from the impacts of disasters by enabling faster, more reliable & cost-effective responses to disasters.

It aims to increase the number of poor & vulnerable people in developing countries benefiting from direct or indirect insurance by up to 400 million.

COP 24:

COP 24 took place in 2018, in Katowice, Poland. Poland will hold the Presidency of the Climate Convention for the third time.

2. Other Mechanisms of UNFCCC

2.1. Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF)

The Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) was established under the Convention to finance projects relating to adaptation, technology transfer & capacity building, energy, transport, industry, agriculture, forestry, waste management & economic diversification.

Finance Mechanism for Climate Change:

The Financial resources made available to non-annex 1 parties to the UNFCCC consist of the following three modules:

National Communications Module:

This module presents information communicated by Annex 2 Parties on the provision of financial resources related to the implementation of the Convention through their 4^th & 5^th national communications.

Fast-Start Finance:

• During the Conference of the Parties (COP15) held in 2009 in Copenhagen developed countries pledged to provide new & additional resources, including forestry & investments, approaching USD 30 billion for the period 2010-2012 & with balanced allocation between mitigation & adaptation.
• Following up on this pledge, the Conference of Parties (COP16) in Cancun, in 2010, took note of this collective commitment by developed country Parties & reaffirmed that funding for adaptation will be prioritized for the most vulnerable developing countries like the least developed countries, small island developing states & Africa.
• At COP 17, Parties welcome the fast-start finance provided by developed countries as part of their collective commitment to provide new & additional resources approaching USD 30 billion for the period 2010-12 & noted the information provided by developed country Parties on the fast-start finance they have provided & urged them to continue to enhance the transparency of their reporting on the fulfilment of their fast-start finance commitments.
• The funds Managed by the GEF Module are a joint effort between the secretariat of the UNFCCC & the secretariat of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
• This module presents information on financial flows that were channelled, mobilized & leveraged by the GEF in its role as an operating entity of the Financial Mechanism of the UNFCCC.

2.2. REDD & REDD+

• Reducing Emissions from Deforestation & Forest Degradation-REDD is the global endeavour to create an incentive for developing countries to protect, better manage & save their forest resources, thus contributing to the global fight against climate change.
• REDD+ goes beyond merely checking deforestation & forest degradation & includes incentives for positive elements of conservation, sustainable management of forests & enhancement of forest carbon stocks.
• India’s sustained efforts for conserving & expanding its forest & tree resources have the possibility of being rewarded for providing carbon service to the international community in addition to providing traditional goods & services to the local communities.
• India believes REDD needs to be seen in the broader context of REDD+, not in isolation or a truncated form since reduction of deforestation & conservation & improvement of forests are two sides of the same coin.
• India has submitted to UNFCCC on REDD, Sustainable Management of Forest (SMF) & Afforestation & Reforestation (A &R).
• A National REDD+ Coordinating Agency is being established, Forest carbon accounting programme is being institutionalized.
• There is likely to be an increase in Net Primary Productivity (NPP) ranging from 20-57%.

Enhanced Implementation of UNFCCC:

India looks forward to enhanced international cooperation under the UNFCCC. Future international cooperation on climate change should address the following objectives:

• Provide equity & fairness in the actions & measures
• Minimizing the negative impacts of climate change through suitable adaptation measures in the countries & communities affected & mitigation at the global level.
• India as a large democracy, with the major challenge of achieving economic & social development & eradicating poverty, will engage in negotiations & other actions at the international level in the coming months that would lead to efficient & equitable solutions at the global level.

The GEF:

• Article 11 of the UNFCCC creates a ‘financial mechanism’ for convention implementation, which is to function under the guidance of the UNFCCC COP & be accountable to the COP.
• Under Article 11(1), the Cop is to decide on the financial mechanism’s policies, programme priorities & eligibility criteria relating to the convention.
• Article 21 names the GEF to serve as the financial mechanism on an interim basis.
• The GEF was established in 1991 by the World Bank in consultation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) & the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), to provide funding to protect the global environment.

The GEF now has 6 focal areas:

1. Ozone layer depletion
2. Persistent organic pollutants
3. Biological diversity
4. Climate change
5. Land degradation, primarily desertification & deforestation
6. International waters

Climate-Smart Agriculture:

• While agriculture is the sector most vulnerable to climate change, it is also a major cause, directly accounting for about 14% of greenhouse gas emissions.
• Agriculture can be a part of the solution: helping people to feed themselves & adapt to changing conditions while mitigating climate change.
• It is possible for agriculture to sequester or absorb carbon into the soil rather than emitting it.
• This can be done without the trade-off with productivity & yields.
• This is called the ‘triple win’: interventions that would increase yields poverty reduction, and food security, make yields more resilient in the face of extremes & make the farm a solution to the climate change problem rather than part of the problem.

2. 3. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC):

• The UN Assembly adopted a resolution, in 1988, on the subject & endorsed the UNEP/WMO proposal for the setting up of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
• It was established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) & the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988 to provide the governments of the world with a clear scientific view of what is happening to the world’s climate.
• The initial task of the IPCC as outlined in the UN General Assembly Resolution 1988 was to prepare a comprehensive review & recommendations concerning the state of knowledge of the science of climate change, the social & economic impact of climate change & possible response strategies & elements for inclusion in a possible future international convention on climate.
• The IPCC is a scientific body. It reviews & assesses the most recent scientific, technical & socio-economic information produced worldwide relevant to the understanding of climate change.
• Thousands of scientists from all over the world contribute to the work of the IPCC voluntarily.
• The IPCC has delivered regularly the most comprehensive scientific reports about climate change produced worldwide, the Assessment Reports.

Assessment Reports:

• By its mandate & as reaffirmed in various decisions by the panel, the IPCC prepares at regular intervals comprehensive Assessment Reports of scientific, technical & socio-economic information relevant to the understanding of human-induced climate change, potential impacts of climate change & options for mitigation & adaptation.
• Assessment Reports are normally published in several volumes, one for each of the Working Groups of the IPCC & subject to the decision by the Panel, a Synthesis Report.

AR5 Contents:

• Compared with previous reports, the AR5 has put greater emphasis on assessing the socio-economic aspects of climate change & implications for sustainable development, risk management & the framing of a response through both adaptation & mitigation.

Key AR 5 cross-cutting themes are:

1. Carbon cycling including Ocean Acidification
2. Mitigation, Adaptation Sustainable Development
3. Water & the Earth System: Changes, Impacts & Responses
4. Ice Sheets & Sea-Level Rise
5. Article 2 of the UNFCCC

2.4. National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme (NGGIP):

• The IPCC established the National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme (NGGIP) to provide methods for estimating national inventories of greenhouse gas emissions to & removed from the atmosphere.
• The guidance produced by the NGGIP is used by countries that are Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to estimate the emissions & removals that they report to the UNFCCC.
• All the IPCC guidance has therefore been compiled by an international range of authors & with an extensive global review process.

Methodology:

• The first methodologies were produced by the IPCC in the early 1990s & have been revised since the development of IPCC Guidelines & Good Practice Guidance.
• The 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories are the IPCC’s most recent guidance on methods & data for developing estimates of emissions & removals of greenhouse gases.
• They build on earlier guidance, over a decade of experience & a worldwide scientific & technical effort to produce guidelines, applicable to all countries notwithstanding widely varying levels of resources & expertise.

Panel:

IPCC is responsible for assessing & developing inventory methods & practices which are scientifically sound & relevant to all countries, noting particularly the lack of information in developing countries. This includes:

1. Developing methods for estimating emissions of greenhouse gases by sources & removals by sinks.
2. Assessing the scientific literature related to the development of GHG emission factors & management of inventories.
3. Assessing & developing methods to quantify & manage uncertainties in the estimates of GHGs.
4. Identifying the implications of the different options for inventory methods & practices.

3. Green Economy

• The concept of a Green economy lacks an internationally agreed definition or universal principles. The Rio 20 outcome document identifies a green economy in the context of sustainable development & poverty eradication & it affirms that the approach will be different to the national circumstances & priorities for each country.
• Green Economy focuses specifically on the fundamental changes that are required to ensure that economic systems are made more sustainable. Green economy focuses on the ways to overcome the deeply rooted causes of unsustainable economic development.
• The Green Economy is about sustainable energy, green jobs, low carbon economies, green policies, green buildings, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, industry, energy efficiency, sustainable transport, waste management, water efficiency & all other resource efficiency.

Transition to Green Economy:

Three priorities in the transition of the economy to a green economy are:

• Decarbonizes the economy
• Conserve the biosphere
• Commit the environmental community to justice & equity

A key step forward consists of changing our conception of growth & prosperity, achieving more with less & creating real wealth & quality of life.

Measures to Adapt Green Economy:

• Overfishing in many parts of the world threatens to deplete future fish stocks. It can be avoided by working to promote sustainable fishing practices.
• Energy audit can reduce a building’s climate footprint & lead to significant savings in energy costs.
• Deforestation accounts for close to 20% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
• Using electronic files to reduce the demand for paper products.
• Car-pooling or taking public transport reduces environmental impacts & economic costs while strengthening the community.
• Resource efficiency is key to a Green Economy & water is one of the most important resources.
• Recycling appropriate materials & composting food waste reduces the demand for our natural resources.

4. The Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity (TEEB)

The Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity (TEEB) was launched by Germany & the European Commission in 2007. It is an international initiative to draw attention to the global economic benefits of biodiversity.

Objective: Highlight the growing cost of biodiversity loss & ecosystem degradation & draw together expertise from the fields of science, economics & policy to enable practical actions.

Aim:

To assess, communicate & mainstream the urgency of actions through its 5 deliverables:

1. Science & economic foundations, policy costs & costs of inaction
2. Decision support for local administrators
3. Policy opportunities for national & international policy-makers
4. Business risks, opportunities & metrics
5. Citizen & consumer ownership

The Ministry has launched the Economics of Ecosystems & biodiversity TEEB-India Initiative (TII) to highlight the economic consequences of the loss of biological diversity & the associated decline in ecosystem services.

Ecological Footprint:

The ecological footprint is a measure of human demand on the Earth’s ecosystems. It is a standardized measure of demand for natural capital that may be contrasted with the planet’s ecological capacity to regenerate & represents the amount of biologically productive land & sea area necessary to supply the resources a human population consumes, to assimilate associated waste.

Humanity’s total ecological footprint is estimated at 1.5 planet Earth in other words, humanity uses ecological services 1.5 times as fast as Earth can renew them.

The ‘Carbon Footprint’ is the amount of carbon being emitted by an activity or organization. The carbon component of the ecological footprint converts the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the amount of productive land & sea area required to sequester it & tells the demand on the Earth that results from burning fossil fuels.

Global Climate Finance Architecture:

The global climate finance architecture is channelled through multilateral funds like the Global Environment Facility & the Climate Investment Funds & as well as increasingly through bilateral channels.

Strategic Climate Fund:

• Administered by the World Bank
• Operational Date-2008
• Area of focus-Adaptation, Mitigation-general, Mitigation
• The Strategic Climate Fund (SCF), one of 2 multi-donor Trust Funds within the Climate Investment Funds (CIFs), serves as an overarching framework for three targeted programmes piloting new approaches & scaled-up, transformational action on climate change:

Forest Investment Programme (FIP)

Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR)

Scaling Up Renewable Energy in Low-Income Countries Programme (SREP)

Biocarbon Fund:

• Administered by the World Bank
• Operational Date-2004
• Area of Focus-adaption, mitigation-general, mitigation-REDD
• The Biocarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes supports developing countries’ efforts to reduce emissions through testing jurisdictional approaches that integrate reducing deforestation & degradation, and sustainable forest management with climate-smart agricultural practices to green supply chains.

Clean Technology Fund:

• Administered by the World Bank
• Operational Date-2008
• Area of Focus- Mitigation-general
• The Clean Technology Fund (CTF), one of two multi-donor Trust Funds within the Climate Investment Funds (CIFs), promotes scaled-up financing for demonstration, deployment & transfer of low-carbon technologies with significant potential for long-term greenhouse gas emissions savings.

Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF):

• Administered by the World Bank
• Operational Date-2008
• Area of Focus- Mitigation-REDD
• FCPF is a World Bank programme & consists of a Readiness Fund & a Carbon Fund.

Partnership for Market Readiness:

• Administered by the World Bank
• Operational date-2011
• Area of Focus-Mitigation-general
• It is a partnership of developed & developing countries administered by the World Bank, established to use market instruments to scale up mitigation efforts in middle-income countries.

Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF):

• Administered by The Global Environment Facility (GEF)
• Operational Date-2002
• Area of focus- Adaptation
• SCCF was created in 2001 to address the specific needs of developing countries under the UNFCCC. It covers the incremental costs of interventions to address climate change to a development baseline.

Strategic Priority on Adaptation (SPA):

• Administered by the Global Environment Facility (GEF)
• Operational Date-2004
• Area of focus-Adaptation
• SPA was a 3-year pilot program aimed to show how adaptation planning & assessment could be practically translated into full-scale projects.

GEF Trust Fund-Climate Change Focal Area:

• Administered by the Global Environment Facility (GEF)
• Operational Date-1991, tracked since 2010.
• Area of Focus- Adaptation, Mitigation-general
• GEF Trust Fund supports the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements & serves as a financial mechanism of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Least Developed Countries Fund:

• Administered by The Global Environment Facility
• Operational Date-2002
• Area of focus- Adaptation
• The Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) was established to meet the adaptation needs of least-developed countries.

Green Climate Fund:

• Administered by –to be confirmed
• Operational Date-2015
• Area of Focus- Adaptation, Mitigation-general, Mitigation-REDD
• The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was adopted as a financial mechanism of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Adaptation Fund:

• Administered by the Adaptation Fund Board
• Operational Date-2009
• Area of focus- adaptation
• The Adaptation Fund is a financial instrument under the UNFCCC & its Kyoto Protocol (KP) & has been established to finance concrete adaptation projects & programmes in developing countries Parties to the KP, to reduce the adverse effects of climate change facing communities, countries & sectors.

Global Climate Change Alliance:

• Administered by The European Commission
• Operational Date-2008
• Area of focus- Adaptation, Mitigation-general, Mitigation-REDD
• The Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA) is an initiative of the European Union.
• Its overall objective is to build a new alliance on climate change between the European Union & the poor developing countries that are most affected & that have the least capacity to deal with climate change.

Global Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Fund (GEEREF):

• Administered by The European Commission
• Operational Date-2008
• Area of Focus-Mitigation-general
• GEEREF is a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) designed to maximize the private finance leveraged through public funds funded by the European Commission & managed by the European Investment Bank.

MDG Achievement Fund- Environment & Climate Change Thematic Window:

• Administered by UNDP
• Operational Date- 2007
• Area of focus- Adaptation, Mitigation-general
• The MDG Achievement Fund (MDG-F) was established by the Government of Spain & the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to accelerate efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals.
• The objective of this part of the fund is to help reduce poverty & vulnerability in eligible countries by supporting interventions that improve environmental management & service delivery at the national & local levels, increase access to new financing mechanisms & enhance capacity to adapt to climate change.

UN-REDD Programme-

• Administered by UNDP
• Operational Date- 2008
• Area of Focus-Mitigation-REDD
• Three UN agencies-United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) & Food, and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have collaborated in the establishment of the UN-REDD programme, a multi-donor trust fund that allows donors to pool resources & provide funding to significantly reduce global emissions from deforestation & forest degradation in developing countries.

Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme:

• Administered by the International Fund for Agricultural Development
• Operational Date-2012
• Area of Focus-Adaptation
• To channel climate & environmental finance to smallholder farmers, scale up climate change adaptation in rural development programmes & mainstream climate adaptation into IFAD’s work.

Amazon Fund:

• Administered by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES)
• Operational Date-2009
• Area of focus-Adaptation
• The Amazon fund was created to raise donations so that investments can be made in efforts to prevent, monitor & combat deforestation, as well as to promote the conservation & sustainable use of forests in the Amazon Biome.

Congo Basin Forest Fund (CBFF):

• Administered by the African Development Bank
• Operational Date-2008
• Area of Focus-Mitigation-REDD
• CBFF is a multi-donor fund set up in 2008 to take early action to protect the forests in the Congo Basin Region.
• It aims to support transformative & innovative projects to be complemented by existing activities, which will develop the capacity of people & institutions of the Congo Basin to enable them to preserve & manage their forests.

Indonesia Climate Change Trust Fund:

• Administered by Indonesia’s National Development Planning Agency
• Area of focus –Adaptation, Mitigation-general, Mitigation-REDD
• Operational Date-2010
• The Indonesia Climate Change Trust Fund (ICCTF) is a national funding entity which aims to develop innovative ways to link international finance sources with national investment strategies.
• The ICCTF receives non-refundable contributions from bilateral & multilateral donors.
• The main funding mechanism of the ICCTF is the Innovation Fund, which provides grants to line ministries to support climate change-related projects within the GOI.