27th COP of UNFCCC

In news: All nations that signed the pact under UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, at the COP27.

About current situation:

• As per the Paris Agreement on Climate Change of 2015, the focus is to drive down greenhouse gas emissions and keep the rise in average global temperature to well below 2°C and as close to 1.5°C as possible by the end of the century.
• Current temperature rise stands at 1.2°C to 1.3°C over the pre-industrial average, the highest in about 12,000 years since the last Ice Age.
• UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report 2022 says global warming is projected to rise to 1.8°C with a 66% probability, even if all the Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs (voluntary pledges submitted under the Paris pact) are implemented.
• At 2°C, up to 20% decline in snowmelt water for irrigation, diminished water for farming and human settlements due to glacier mass loss, and a two-fold increase in flood damage could happen, while up to 18% of species on land could go extinct.
• Global annual emissions during 2021 at 52.8 Gigatonnes (GtCO2e), represents a slight increase compared to 2019, the pre-COVID year, and that the outlook for 2030 is not bright.
• The latest Sixth Assessment Report (SAR) of the IPCC says that biodiversity loss, Arctic ice loss, threat to coastal settlements and infrastructure, conflicts & migration of affected people and urban challenges to energy and water access could also arise.
• Tipping points means moments that cascade into irreversible changes, with a domino effect on other elements such as heat waves, Greenland ice sheet collapse, West Antarctic ice sheet collapse, thawing of the boreal permafrost, and tropical coral reef die offs, all of which are expected to happen at 1.5°C.
• G20 members account for 75% of emissions, although it is the richer countries that are responsible for accumulated emissions since the industrial revolution.

Objectives of COP27:

• The COP27 is described as the conference of implementation.
• Aim: to review progress, raise ambition on emissions cuts and draw up funding plans to help vulnerable countries adapt to climate change.

• Countries most affected by the effects of a changing climate have been seeking loss and damage payments from the richer industrialised nations in the form of a separate loss and damage fund.
• To move away from fossil fuels and to peak emissions by 2025.
•  “10 New Insights on Climate Science” released at COP27 – shows continuing high emissions from fossil fuels.

Source: The Hindu

Previous Year Question:

Q.1) With reference to the Agreement at the UNFCCC Meeting in Paris in 2015, which of the following statements is/are correct? (2016)

1. The Agreement was signed by all the member countries of the UN and it will go into effect in 2017.
2. The Agreement aims to limit the greenhouse gas emissions so that the rise in average global temperature by the end of this century does not exceed 2°C or even 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
3. Developed countries acknowledged their historical responsibility in global warming and committed to donate $1000 billion a year from 2020 to help developing countries to cope with climate change.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

1. 1 and 3 only
2. 2 only
3. 2 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3