US-China Bilateral Accord on Climate Change and Clean EnergyMonday, November 17, 20147:11 PM

U.S. and China has signed a bilateral accord on climate change and clean Energy. This accord will have impacts in the run up to the Paris Conference in December 2015 when the global community is expected to clinch a new agreement on Global Warming

The Accord

China has publically announced that its emission will peak by 2030 and that it has intention to have the peak year earlier

China will increase the non-fossil fuel share of all energy to around 20 percent by 2030 US will cut its emission by 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025, with an aspiration of an 80

percent reduction by 2050 The two countries will vastly expand cooperation in clean energy, phasing down of the use of

hydro-flouro carbons, carbon capture technology and climate smart urbanisation

Joint announcement of recognises the special responsibilities that the two largest emitters have to curb their emissions. US – 15 percent, China -29 percent of the total emission of greenhouse gases

Significance for India

Food and Climate ChangeMonday, November 17, 20147:13 PM World’s population is expected to grow to 9 billion by 2050, it poses a serious challenge – that is providing affordable and nutritious food without decimating the earth natural resources.

Our current food system is dysfunctional both in its impact on people and on earth.

Today millions do not have enough food to eat, and billion do not lack right nutrient to be healthy. If we do not change course we will not be able to meet the challenge

Our current agricultural practise is inefficient, we continue to destroy tropical forest to clear field for agriculture, which contribute to total warming of the planet and we waste large amount of food

Climate change is already making people hungry by disrupting crops. Rising amount of CO2 not only effect the production of crops but also the nutrients of the crops

Target and vision

Supporting the world’s small farmers so that they are able to grow, sell and eat more nutritious food

Converting degraded land into productive farms

Climate and development goals must include sustainable food and health nexus for a healthier and sustainable future

India's Position on Climate ChangeMonday, November 17, 20147:15 PMIndia taken the position for common but differentiated responsibilities, even though this has merits but the current situation of the climate is that the developing world cannot be far behind in their contribution to the climate change mitigation

India and Climate Change Climate change is an all-encompassing issue that directly touches upon human development

and people’s livelihood For much of the past decade climate change has shaped and dominated the international

agenda and will increasingly be a game-changer in the future In 2010, governments agreed that emissions need to be reduced so that global temperature

increases are limited to below 2 degrees Celsius For states, climate change fundamentally remains a challenge and a dilemma. To overcome its

natural inclination of being protectionist and to simultaneously frame stringent adaptation and mitigation policies to keep global warming below two degrees Celsius is difficult

Kyoto protocolo The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

(UNFCCC) is an international treaty that sets binding obligations on industrialized countries to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases

o Recognizing that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity, the Protocol places a heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities."

India and climate change: perceptions and positionso India stands by the UN Framework Convention Treaty on Climate Change and the Kyoto

Protocol.o This mechanism recognizes the “common but differentiated responsibilities” of the

countries in the matter of reduction of greenhouse emissions. o At the heart of India’s climate change stand is the argument that it must be allowed to

pollute on a ‘per capita basis’ equal to the advanced industrialized countries Such a position shifts the responsibility on to the shoulders of the developed

countries to drastically cut emissions if the world is to meet the target of keeping global warming within the generally agreed ‘safe limit’ of two degrees Celsius, as determined by the IPCC

It also allows India the space and time to grow at a sustained pace and strengthen its poverty alleviation and developmental programmes

o The tenets of India’s argument and negotiations on climate change have consistently remained ‘equity with social justice’—the right to develop and a need-based living

Energy challenges and climate changeo For a rising economic power like India, the interplay between energy, environment and

development policy is complex and challengingo India’s domestic strategy sets forth an approach towards a low-carbon economy,

principally to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels without compromising its steady growth rate

o However, at any reduced level, fossil fuels will remain the dominant source of energy in any conceivable scenario up to 2030 and in all probability beyond

o India’s Integrated Energy Policy, adopted in 2006, is a response to managing the energy agenda through various measures. Such measures include

Promoting energy efficiency in all sectors Need for mass transport Encouraging renewable sources of energy Accelerating nuclear and hydro-electric power as clean energy Research and development in clean energy technologies Reforming energy markets to ensure price competition

o The Integrated Energy Policy is bolstered by other relevant legislation, including the New and Renewable Energy Policy (2005), the Rural Electrification Policy (2006), the National Environment Policy (2006) and the Environment Impact Assessment (2006)

o Increasing the installed power capacity to 800 GW by 2030, along with the corresponding expansion of the energy infrastructure, would come at a huge cost.

o For India, finance for development is crucial and, therefore, it needs to be positively engaged in the multilateral forum

o ## There were talks about the technology transfer to developing countries to help them reduce their carbon emission, so engaging in multilateral forum will help India access these technologies [ Ref – UNFCCC ministerial summit NOV-2013]

o The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), released by the Prime Minister in June 2008, is a plan of action and sets out key initiatives on energy and climate connect

India’s vulnerability to climate changeo Glacier melt in the Himalayas projected to increase flooding and then followed by

decreased river flows as the glaciers recede.o Freshwater availability, particularly in large river basins, projected to decrease, which

along with population growth and increasing demand could adversely affect more than 1,000m people by 2050.

o Coastal areas, especially heavily populated mega-delta regions, will be vulnerable to increased flooding from the sea and rivers.

o Crop yields could decrease by up to 30% in South Asia by the middle of the 21st century, with the risk of hunger projected to be very high.

Emissions rights cannot be situated outside the framework of equitable human development. India’s argument on emissions rights is valuable to the extent of being allowed the space and time to develop, but it cannot be an excuse for not taking effective action to curb the dangers of climate change

It is unlikely that India and China will be exempted from the CO2 emissions reduction requirements in future

India needs to balance its stance on external climate change negotiations with its internal action plan

UNFCC and COP etc.Monday, November 17, 20147:17 PM Green Climate Fund

At COP 16, 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 and other activities in developing country Parties. The Fund will be governed by the GCF Board.

NCERT – GeographyMonday, November 17, 20147:18 PMClimate Change

Causes of Climate Change – They can be grouped into astronomical and terrestrial causeso Astronomical causes

The astronomical causes are the changes in solar output associated with sunspot activities. Sunspots are dark and cooler patches on the sun which increase and decrease in a cyclical manner

When the number of sunspots increase, cooler and wetter weather and greater storminess occur. A decrease in sunspot numbers is associated with warm and drier conditions.

An another astronomical theory is Millankovitch oscillations, which infer cycles in the variations in the earth’s orbital characteristics around the sun, the wobbling of the earth and the changes in the earth’s axial tilt. All these alter the amount of insolation received from the sun, which in turn, might have a bearing on the climate.

o Terrestrial causes Volcanism is considered as another cause for climate change. Volcanic eruption

throws up lots of aerosols into the atmosphere. These aerosols remain in the atmosphere for a considerable period of time reducing the sun’s radiation reaching the Earth’s surface

Anthropogenic effect - The most important anthropogenic effect on the climate is the increasing trend in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which is likely to cause global warming

Greenhouse Effect and greenhouse gaseso The term greenhouse is derived from the analogy to a greenhouse used in cold areas for

preserving heat. A greenhouse is made up of glass. The glass which is transparent to incoming short wave solar radiation is opaque to outgoing long wave radiation. The glass, therefore, allows in more radiation and prevents the long wave radiation going outside the glass house, causing the temperature inside the glasshouse structure warmer than outside

o The primary GHGs of concern today are carbon dioxide , Chlorofluorocarbons , methane , nitrous oxide and ozone

o The effectiveness of any given GHG molecule will depend on the magnitude of the increase in its concentration, its life time in the atmosphere and the wavelength of radiation that it absorbs

o The largest concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere is carbon dioxide and Forests and oceans are the sinks for the carbon dioxide

o Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are products of human activity. The CFCs which drift into the stratosphere destroy the ozone. The depletion of ozone concentration in the stratosphere is called the ozone hole

o International efforts have been initiated for reducing the emission of GHGs into the atmosphere. The most important one is the Kyoto protocol proclaimed in 1997

o Kyoto protocol bounds the 35 industrialised countries to reduce their emissions by the year 2012 to 5 per cent less than the levels prevalent in the year 1990

IPCC Climate change warningMonday, November 17, 20147:18 PM Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change Report – Related to UNFCCC

The world would have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40-70% below 2010 levels by 2050 in order to have a fair chance to keep the rise in the global temperature below 2 degree Celsius.

The report notes that keeping the emission concentration levels under this limit would require tripling or even quadrupling of the renewable and other clean energy production by 2050 compared to 2010 levels

Considering the low ambition the countries have shown to take action in the short run, the report warns that delaying mitigation through 2030 will increase the challenges and reduce the options for keeping emissions within the dangerous levels.

Majority of accumulated GHG emissions so far have originated from the rich countries that have relatively low population levels but the spurt of economic growth in emerging economies is increasing current emissions.

At the same time, these developing countries such as India and China are building up massive new infrastructure where the potential to reduce emissions exists at lower costs.

To be able to do so, the report says, “The financial transfers to ameliorate this asymmetry could be in the order of hundred billions of USD per year before mid-century to bring concentration in the range of 450 ppm of Carbon dioxide equivalent by 2100.”

The Cancus pledges ‘correspond to scenarios that explicitly delay mitigation through 2020 or beyond relative to what would achieve lowest global cost.

Hindu’s editorial on UNFCC warning

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has given its starkest warning of the likely impact of climate change. The IPCC’s March 31 report, the most comprehensive yet, states that the evidence of global warming is now overwhelming, and warns that all countries and all social classes of people will be affected by changes which are likely to be “severe, pervasive and irreversible.” All animal species face an increased risk of extinction, and vegetation patterns are likely to change substantially, with low-latitude species appearing in higher latitudes and lower latitudes becoming more arid, even if rainfall patterns there are becoming less predictable. If temperatures rise to 2 ˚ C or more above 20th century levels, yields of major food crops will probably fall; the likely yield increase in colder climates as those grow warmer may not offset declining yields elsewhere. Water resources, already under stress in Asia, are likely to come under even greater stress, and ocean acidification — caused by the absorption of rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide — is likely to compound the problems. The poor in all countries are likely to suffer more than the rich, but all humanity may well be unable to adapt to temperature rises of above 2 degrees.

While the report is not apocalyptic in tone, and specifies the level of confidence with which it states its main findings, one major question arising thence is whether we can adapt to survive, or whether far more drastic measures are required. This is especially important in South Asia, where almost one and a half billion people live. Spreading aridity, or increasingly severe individual events like storms or droughts, not to mention the disappearance of land as sea levels rise, could well lead to large-scale migration, which in turn could cause resource-driven conflict not between countries but between rural and urban populations or between crop farmers and animal farmers. Existing inequalities are likely to worsen, which will make it harder for people to climb out of poverty. Yet, on the evidence the report has received only the briefest of responses, for example from United States Secretary of State John Kerry, and from the environment ministers of various European Union countries; moreover, the very possibility that gradual adaptation may not avert climate catastrophe appears not to figure, particularly in regions which would be the worst affected, such as South Asia. That countries — states — are the only bodies even remotely capable of action on the scale required hardly needs saying, but the regions at greatest risk have some of the world’s most dysfunctional states. We cannot say we have not been warned.

UNFCCCMonday, November 17, 20147:19 PM

Montreal ProtocolMonday, November 17, 20147:19 PM