Nationally Determined Contributions

In News: The Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) pledged by countries to arrest climate change are insufficient, noted a new report released by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

• Cumulative CO2 emissions in 2020-2030, based on the latest NDCs, would likely use up 86 per cent of the remaining carbon budget, according to the new NDC Synthesis Report.

About:

• The UNFCCC’s synthesis report is an annual summary of climate commitments made by countries and their impact on global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
• The commitments — known as Nationally Determined Contributions — were made by countries who signed on to the Paris Agreement to address climate change.
• Only 24 countries submitted new or updated NDCs after COP 26 including India.
• India now stands committed to reducing emissions intensity of its GDP by 45 per cent by 2030 from its 2005 levels.
• The country will also target about 50 per cent of cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.
• India has made one of its new NDC targets conditional. The country will switch 50 per cent of its total power capacity to non-fossil sources by 2030. This pledge depends on the “transfer of technology and low-cost international finance, including Green Climate Fund (GCF).”
• The emission levels resulting from a hypothetical implementation of the latest NDCs are about 5 per cent lower in 2030, compared to the report’s previous edition.

• If implemented, the latest NDCs would lead to 52.4 GtCO2e of GHGs in 2030. And the updated NDCs point to a stronger likelihood of global emissions peaking before 2030 than the previous report.

• Global emissions must amount to only 31 GtCO2e in 2030 (43 per cent lower in 2030 compared to 2019) to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Concerns:

• Currently, we are on track for about 2.5°C of temperature rise by 2100, from a possible range of 2.1°C to 2.9°C.

• Most worrying is the impact on the carbon budget — a biophysical threshold of CO2 that can be emitted to prevent global average temperatures from rising above a certain level.
• Carbon budgets are constructed on the premise that there is a near-linear relationship between rising global temperatures and the level of cumulative atmospheric CO2.
• Breaching 1.5°C would lead to irreversible damage to vital planetary features such as the Greenland Ice Sheet, the west Antarctic Ice Sheet and tropical coral reefs. It can lead to more floods, droughts, heat, disease, storms.

LT-LEDS:

• UNFCCC summarises 53 long-term emission reduction plans submitted by countries. These plans are known as long-term low-emission development strategies (LT-LEDS).

• These plans typically follow the announcement of a long-term target, such as net zero emissions by 2050 or 2070.
• LT-LEDS are typically broader in scope than NDCs and incorporate developmental goals as well as required levels of investment and government expenditure.

• Alignment between NDCs and LT-LEDS is still unclear — only 8 per cent of countries mentioned that their NDCs are aligned with their LT-LEDS.

India’s initiatives:

• Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

• ‘Panchamrit’ announced at COP 26
• net-zero by 2070
• To reduce Emissions Intensity of its GDP by 45 percent by 2030
• LIFE’– ‘Lifestyle for Environment’
• Principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC)

• National Solar Mission (NSM)

• Launched in 2010, NSM targets installing 100 GW grid-connected solar power plants by the year 2022 to achieve about 40% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources and to reduce the emission intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 percent from 2005 level by 2030.

• National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency

• Perform Achieve and Trade Scheme (PAT)
• Market Transformation for Energy Efficiency (MTEE)
• Energy Efficiency Financing Platform (EEFP)
• Framework for Energy Efficient Economic Development (FEEED)
• Partial Risk Guarantee Fund for Energy Efficiency (PRGFEE)
• Venture Capital Fund for Energy Efficiency (VCFEE) to promote energy efficiency
• National Energy Conservation Award and Painting Competition

• National Mission on Sustainable Habitat

• Promoting low-carbon urban growth towards reducing GHG emissions intensity for achieving India’s NDCs.

Source: Down to Earth