UNFCCC COP-28 (Part-1)

Why in news?

The Conference of Parties (COP-28) has been recently concluded in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the adoption of UAE Consensus.

Status of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions

G20 countries represent around 75% of global GHG emissions.
The US, the UK and the EU are considered to be responsible for 50% of all emissions.
India is responsible for only 4% of historical emissions.
China, the world’s biggest emitter in the last 15 years, is responsible for 30% of global emissions every year.

The COP is the main decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
It brings together the 198 Parties (including the European Union) to negotiate and agree on how to tackle climate change, reduce emissions and limit global warming.
The inaugural gathering took place in Berlin, Germany, in 1995.
The COP secretariat is headquartered in Bonn.
The COP Presidency rotates among the 5 recognized UN regions - Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe and Western Europe and others.
COPs (28) are organized into 2 distinctive areas.
- The Blue Zone - A UNFCCC-managed site that is only open to UN-accredited participants.
- The Green Zone - Managed and delivered by the COP28 UAE Presidency, and is open to everyone.
To know more about COP-27, click here: Part -I & Part - II

climate-change-conference What about COP28?

UNFCCC

The UNFCCC was formed in 1994 to stabilize GHG emissions and to protect the earth from the threat of climate change.
The participants at COPs are signatories to UNFCCC and have been meeting every year since 1995.
At present, the UNFCCC has 198 members.
It is one of the 3 Rio Conventions which includes Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

It appointed the chief executive of the state-owned oil company, Sultan al-Jaber, as COP28 president.
The UAE is one of the world's top 10 oil-producing nations.
US President Joe Biden and China's Xi Jinping did not attend the event, but both countries were represented.
4 themes - The 4 crosscutting themes are technology & innovation, inclusion, frontline communities and finance.
It also focuses on the progress towards the existing Paris goal of limiting the global average temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.

Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change that was launched in 2015 and was adopted by 196 countries.

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Meetings at 2023 UN Climate Change Conference, Dubai – It includes

28^th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 28)
5^th session of the decision-making body of the Paris Agreement (CMA 5)
18^th session of the decision-making body of the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 18)
The World Climate Action Summit (WCAS) - It was held during the COP 28 where world leaders presented their progress and ambitions, providing guidance for the remainder of the COP.

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QUICK FACTS

India’s Updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)

This update translates the ‘Panchamrit’ announced at COP 26 into enhanced climate targets.
Emissions intensity – It is the total amount of emissions emitted for every unit of GDP.
- The goal to reduce emissions intensity and improve energy efficiency was not sector specific.
- Reducing emission intensity of GDP by 45% below 2005 levels by 2030.
Status -India had already achieved 21% of its emissions intensity as a proportion of its GDP in line with its commitment.
Non fossil fuel-based energy – To meet 50% of cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.
Power - 500 GW of non-fossil fuel installed power generation capacity by 2030.
Absolute Emission - Cutting absolute emissions by one billion tonnes, presumably from projected business-as-usual (BAU) 2030 levels.
Net-zero emissions – To be achieved by 2070.

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To know about UNFCCC COP-28 Part 2, click here

To download full pdf, click here