MEMBERS' REFERENCE SERVICE LARRDIS LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT, NEW DELHI REFERENCE NOTE No.25/RN/Ref./July/2017 For the use of Members of Parliament NOT FOR PUBLICATION 1 PARIS CLIMATE CHANGE ACCORD: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS Prepared by Dr. Jayadev Sahu, Additional Director (23035025) and Shri Sai Ram C.V., Junior Library Assistant of Lok Sabha Secretariat under the supervision of Shri Atul Kaushik, Additional Secretary, Smt. Kalpana Sharma, Joint Secretary and Smt. Anita Khanna, Director. Referen The Reference Note is for personal use of the Members in the discharge of their Parliamentary duties, and is not for publication. This Service is not to be quoted as the source of information as it is based on the sources indicated at the end/in the text.
PARIS CLIMATE CHANGE ACCORD: RECENT DEVELOPMENT The Paris Climate Change Agreement: An Overview On 12 th December, 2015, 195 Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 1 (UNFCCC) adopted the historic Paris Agreement at the 21 st Conference of the Parties 2 (COP), in Paris, which brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and unleash actions and investment towards a low carbon, resilient and sustainable future. The Paris Agreement has a total of 29 Articles. The central aim of the agreement is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping the global temperature rise, in this century, well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Additionally, the agreement aims to increase the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change, and at making finance flows consistent with a low GHG emissions and climate-resilient pathway. To reach these ambitious goals, appropriate mobilization and provision of financial resources, a new technology framework and enhanced capacity-building is to be put in place, thus supporting action by developing countries and the most vulnerable countries, in line with their own national objectives. The Agreement also provides for an enhanced transparency framework for action and support. The 1 The UNFCCC entered into force on 21 March 1994. Currently, there are 197 Parties (196 States and 1 regional economic integration organization) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The 197 countries that have ratified the Convention are called Parties to the Convention. The ultimate objective of UNFCCC and any related legal instruments that the Conference of the Parties may adopt is to achieve, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Convention, stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, in a time frame, which allows ecosystems to adapt naturally and enables sustainable development. 2 The COP is the supreme decision-making body of the Convention. All States that are Parties to the Convention are represented at the COP, at which they review the implementation of the Convention and any other legal instruments that the COP adopts and take decisions necessary to promote the effective implementation of the Convention, including institutional and administrative arrangements.
2 Paris Agreement is based on principles of equity and Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC). The Paris Agreement requires all Parties to put forward their best efforts through nationally determined contributions (NDCs) 3 and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead. This includes requirements that all Parties report regularly on their emissions and on their implementation efforts. There will also be a global stocktake every 5 years to assess the collective progress towards achieving the purpose of the agreement. By 5 th October 2016, the threshold for entry into force of the Paris Agreement was achieved (the milestone when 55 Parties accounting for 55% of global emissions deposited their instruments of ratification to the Agreement). After thirty days of the achievement of this milestone, the Paris Agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016. As on July 2017, 153 parties have ratified Paris Agreement. 4 Some of major features of the Paris Agreement are as follows: a) The Paris Agreement acknowledges the development imperatives of developing countries. The Agreement recognizes the developing countries' right to development and their efforts to harmonize development with environment, while protecting the interests of the most vulnerable. 3 According to Article 3 of the Paris Agreement, as nationally determined contributions to the global response to climatechange, all Parties are to undertake and communicate ambitious efforts as definedin Articles 4 (mitigation), 7 (adaptation), 9 (finance), 10 (technology development and transfer), 11 (capacity building) and 13 (transparency of action and support) with the view to achieving the purpose of this Agreement.. A country's INDC(Intended Nationally Determined Contribution) will becomes its first NDC when it ratifies the Paris Agreement. NDCs are the primary means for governments to communicate internationally the steps they will take to address climate change in their own countries. 4 Official website of United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change.
3 b) The Paris Agreement recognizes the importance of sustainable lifestyles and sustainable patterns of consumption with developed countries taking the lead, and notes the importance of 'climate justice in its Preamble. c) The Agreement seeks to enhance the 'implementation of the Convention' whilst reflecting the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances. d) The objective of the Agreement further ensures that it is not mitigation-centric and includes other important elements such as adaptation, loss and damage, finance, technology, capacity building and transparency of action and support. e) Pre-2020 actions are also part of the decisions. The developed country parties are urged to scale up their level of financial support with a complete road map to achieve the goal of jointly providing US $ 100 billion by 2020 for mitigation and adaptation by significantly increasing adaptation finance from current levels and to further provide appropriate technology and capacity building support. 5 India and Paris Climate Agreement India ratified the Paris Agreement on 2 nd October 2016.India had submitted its (Intended) Nationally Determined Contributions (now called NDCs) 6 to the UNFCCC for the period 2020-2030 in 2015.India s NDCs include following 8 goals 7 : 1. To put forward and further propagate a healthy and sustainable way of living based on traditions and values of conservation and moderation. 2. To adopt a climate-friendly and a cleaner path than the one followed hitherto by others at corresponding level of economic development. 5 PIB, Press Release, 20 April 2016 6 According to Article 4 Paragraph 2, op.cit., p.1. 7 India INDC submitted to UNFCCC
4 3. To reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 percent by 2030 from 2005 level 4. To achieve about 40 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030, with the help of transfer of technology and low cost international finance, including from Green Climate Fund 8. 5. To create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO 2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030 6. To better adapt to climate change by enhancing investments in development programmes in sectors vulnerable to climate change, particularly agriculture, water resources, Himalayan region, coastal regions, health and disaster management. 7. To mobilize domestic and new and additional funds from developed countries to implement the above mitigation and adaptation actions in view of the resource required and the resource gap. 8. To build capacities, create domestic framework and international architecture for quick diffusion of cutting edge climate technology in India and for joint collaborative R&D for such future technologies. 9 Recent Developments United States withdrawal from the Paris Agreement On 1 June 2017, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change and try to negotiate a deal that is more favourable to the USA. Trump s decision to withdraw 8 The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a new global fund created to support the efforts of developing countries to respond to the challenge of climate change. It was set up by the 194 countries who are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010, as part of the Convention s financial mechanism. When the Paris Agreement was reached in 2015, the Green Climate Fund was given an important role in serving the agreement and supporting the goal of keeping climate change well below 2 degrees Celsius 9 PIB, Press Release, 02 October 2015.
5 means the United States will become just the third country to remain out of the Paris Agreement, the other two being Nicaragua and Syria, both of which, unlike the US, never joined. In his speech, Trump claimed that the Paris Agreement 'disadvantages the United States to the exclusive benefit of other countries'. He said, 'the United States will cease all implementation of the non-binding Paris Accord and the draconian financial and economic burdens the agreement imposes on our country. This includes ending the implementation of the nationally determined contribution and, very importantly, the Green Climate Fund which is costing the United States a vast fortune. The Paris Accord would undermine our economy, hamstring our workers, weaken our sovereignty, impose unacceptable legal risks, and put us at a permanent disadvantage to the other countries of the world. It is time to exit the Paris Accord', he added. 10 Procedure and timeline for withdrawing from the Paris Agreement The legal options for leaving the Paris Agreement are set out in its Article 28. A party may give written notification of its withdrawal when three years have elapsed from the date on which this Agreement hasentered into force for a Party. The withdrawal will be effective one year after notification. In case of the USA, the withdrawal could be notified on 4 November 2019 (three years after entry into force of the Paris Agreement), and become effective one year later, on 4 November 2020. Alternatively, a party can withdraw from the Paris Agreement by leaving the UNFCCC, Article 25.1 of which allows parties to withdraw by giving one year's notice. 10 Statement by President Trump on the Paris Climate Accord, The White House Press Release, 01 June 2017
6 Consequences of the US withdrawal The impacts of the US decision to withdraw the Paris Agreement are not yet predictable. US withdrawal may have an impact on global climate action in terms of reducing global cumulative Greenhouse Gas emissions since US is the second largest GHG emitter presently.. Indeed, finance and transfer of technology are two of the most vital components of the Paris Agreement. The developed world, including the United States, had committed itself to mobilising at least US$ 100 billion in climate finance every year from the year 2020, even prior to the Paris Agreement. In Paris, they agreed to enhance this amount from the year 2025. Therefore, US withdrawal may also affect the international funds for climate change. Reactions to the US announcement Internationally, a number of countries have regretted the US decision and reaffirmed their intention to implement the Paris Agreement. The leaders of France, Germany and Italy in a joint statement have regretted the United States decision to withdraw from the accord, and affirmed their strongest commitment to implement its measures and encouraged all our partners to speed up their action to combat climate change. 11 UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has expressed disappointment over President Donald Trump s decision to pull out of the Paris Accord, He called the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate agreement "a major disappointment" and said it was "crucial that the United States remains a leader on environmental issues." 12 11 The Hindu, 02 June 2017 12 Ibid
7 The Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi has reaffirmed his support for the Paris Agreement in a joint press statement with French President Emmanuel Macron. The Indian Prime Minister said that India will 'go above and beyond' to protect climate as he termed the Paris climate agreement as a shared legacy of the world. The Paris Agreement reflects "our duty towards protecting the Earth and natural resources. For us, this is an article of faith. Paris climate agreement is a shared legacy of the world. It will benefit the future generations as well," he added. 13 Recent statements made during the visits of Hon ble PM to Germany and Spain also reaffirmed this: India-Germany Joint Statement: Prime Minister Modi and Federal Chancellor Merkel reiterated their commitment to the ambitious implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. as well as the implementation of the Paris Agreement with a timely transformation to low-carbon inclusive sustainable economies. India-Spain Joint Statement on May 31, 2017: Climate action is a key priority for both India and Spain. The two leaders reiterated their commitment to implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, its Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. Sources Consulted 1. Official websites of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (http://unfccc.int/2860.php). 2. PIB-Press Releases. 3. Answer to Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Questions. 4. Press Clippings. 13 Financial Express, 04 June 2017