Conference Of Parties 28 just concluded with the announcement of a final agreement adopted by nearly 200 countries that includes to “transition away from” fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner.

The loss and damage fund is designed to support climate-vulnerable developing countries; Countries have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars for the fund;

Commitments of worth $3.5 billion to replenish the resources of the Green Climate Fund;

New announcements totaling over $150 million for the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDC) and Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF)

An increase of $9 billion annually by the World Bank to finance climate-related projects (2024 and 2025);

Nearly 120 countries backed COP28 UAE Climate and Health Declaration to accelerate actions to protect people’s health from growing climate impacts;

Over 130 countries have signed up to COP28 UAE Declaration on Agriculture, Food, and Climate to support food security while combatting climate change; and

Global Cooling Pledge has been endorsed by 66 countries to reduce cooling-related emissions by 68%.

COP29 which is set to take place in Baku, Azerbaijan, next year.

LEARNING FROM HOME/ WITHOUT CLASSES/ BASICS

COP is the annual UN Summit on the environment and climate change, where all the world leaders come together to discuss and work towards climate change.

With around 1.2C of warming so far, the world has seen a cascade of climate-driven extremes in recent months, shining a spotlight on the plight of developing countries faced with escalating disasters, as well as an energy and food price crisis and ballooning debt. Scientists say limiting warming to 1.5C is a far safer guardrail against catastrophic climate impacts.

Concentrations of the main greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide – once again reached record levels in 2021. The annual increase in methane concentration was the highest on record.

ANTHROPOGENIC CLIMATE CHANGE is a change caused by human activity.

CLIMATE CHANGE:  Climate Change refers to any change in climate over time whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity.

       Global warming is the long-term heating of Earth’s climate system observed since the pre-industrial period (between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel
burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere.

  Greenhouse gases allow sunlight (shortwave radiation) to pass through the atmosphere freely, where it is then partially absorbed by the surface of the Earth. Greenhouse gases can trap heat (longwave radiation) in the atmosphere, keeping the Earth’s surface warmer than it would be if it were not present. These gases are the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. Increases in the number of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere enhance the greenhouse effect which is creating global warming and consequently climate change.

Carbon dioxide (CO2); Methane (CH4); Nitrous oxide (N2O); Fluorinated gases

  UNFCCC

      The UNFCCC entered into force on 21 March 1994. Today, it has near-universal membership. The 197 countries that have ratified the Convention are called Parties to the Convention. The UNFCCC is a “Rio Convention”, one of three adopted at the “Rio Earth Summit” in 1992. Preventing “dangerous” human interference with the climate system is the ultimate aim of the UNFCCC. The ultimate objective of the Convention is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations “at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic
(human-induced) interference with the climate system.”

PARIS AGREEMENT

The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gas emissions, mitigation, and adaptation. The Paris Agreement was signed in 2015 by 195 countries. The Paris Agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016. the Paris agreement mandates all countries to take action to minimize the impact of climate change as per their voluntary commitments and individual capacity.

It sets a global goal of keeping global average temperatures from rising 2°C (compared to temperatures of pre-Industrial Revolution) by the end of the century.

             Adaptation can be understood as the process of adjusting to the current and future effects of climate change. ‘Adaptation to climate change’ refers to the vast range of actions societies can take to reduce the adverse impacts of global warming on the environment, society, public health, the economy and more. Climate adaptation includes
measures such as developing and rolling out new varieties of drought-resistant
crops, designing better flood-defence infrastructure to protect coastal cities or riverine communities, improving early warning systems for climate-induced disasters, and restoring ecosystems that act as buffers against extreme weather.

Mitigation means making the impacts of climate change less severe by preventing or reducing the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere. Mitigation measures include deploying renewable energy at scale, replacing internal combustion engine cars and motorbikes with electric vehicles, and improving the health of the planet’s forests. These can help slow down the growth, or in certain cases even reduce the concentration, of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.