XI Petersberg Climate Dialogue

• 29 Apr 2020

Why in News

Recently, the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change attended the 11^th Petersberg Climate Dialogue.

• The dialogue was held virtually for the first time in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Key Points

• Petersberg Climate Dialogue
  
  • It has been hosted by Germany since 2010 to provide a forum for informal high-level political discussions, focusing both on international climate negotiations and the advancement of climate action.
  • The virtual XI Petersberg Climate Dialogue was co-chaired by Germany and the United Kingdom (UK) and was attended by about 30 countries including India.
    
    • The UK is the incoming Presidency of the 26^th Conference of Parties (COP 26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
    • COP 25 was held at Madrid, Spain in December 2019.
  • This year’s dialogue was crucial because of the efforts to contain coronavirus as well as countries preparing to move into the implementation phase of the Paris Agreement 2015 in the post-2020 period.
• India’s Contributions in the Dialogue:
  
  • India expressed solidarity with the world as it combats the Covid-19 pandemic and emphasised on adopting more sustainable consumption patterns in line with the requirement of sustainable lifestyles.
  • India suggested having climate technology as an open source available to all countries at affordable prices.
  • India stressed on climate finance and urged to plan for 1 trillion USD in grants to the developing world immediately.
  • India highlighted its Nationally Determined Contributions spanning a ten-year time frame and in compliance with the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.
  • India focused on the opportunity to accelerate renewable energy deployment and create new green jobs in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector.

Paris Agreement 2015

• Parties to UNFCCC agreed to strive to limit the rise in global warming to well under 2 degrees Celsius, over pre-industrial levels, by 2100, under Paris Agreement 2015.
• Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) were conceived at the Paris summit which require each Party to prepare, communicate and maintain successive NDCs that it intends to achieve.
• Parties shall pursue domestic mitigation measures, with the aim of achieving the objectives of such contributions.
• Paris Agreement replaced earlier agreement to deal with climate change, Kyoto Protocol.

Kyoto Protocol

• It was an international agreement linked to the UNFCCC, which committed its parties by setting internationally binding emission reduction targets.
• It was adopted in Kyoto, Japan in 1997 and entered into force in 2005.
• It recognized that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity.
• The detailed rules for the implementation of the Protocol were adopted at COP-7 in Marrakesh, in 2001 and are referred to as the Marrakesh Accords.
  
  • Kyoto Protocol Phase-1 (2005-12) gave the target of cutting down emissions by 5%.
  • Phase-2 (2013-20) gave the target of reducing emissions by at least 18% by the industrialized countries.

Source: PIB