COP24: Future Course of action

Why in news?

Conference of Parties 24 (The United nations Climate summit) is to take place in Katowice Poland soon.

What is the present global situation?

• The latest Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Bulletin of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says the level of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, notably the most potent carbon dioxide, hit a new record in 2017.
• A US Congress-mandated report too warned of dreadful consequences of continued growth in emissions.
• Global warming will undermine human health, damage infrastructure, limit water availability, alter coastlines and push up costs in industries, farming, fisheries and energy sectors.
• Under Trump Administration the US is seeking to dilute the financial obligations of the developed nations to sustain the global struggle against rapidly altering climate.
• There are no signs of reversals in this trend and that the window of opportunity for action is almost closed.
• Climate change will, thus, have increasingly destructive and irreversible impacts on life on earth.

How India is affected by climate change?

• Since 1951 the meteorological data of India shows an increasing frequency of extremely heavy rainfall and rainless days and diminishing incidence of light to moderate rainfall.
• The IMD has also attributed the recent unprecedented deluge in Kerala and similar events elsewhere earlier to climate change.
• The India Meteorological Department (IMD) also conceded that the weather-related normal has changed.
• Studies also have revealed a perceptible rise in the surface water temperature in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, boding ill for aquatic biodiversity.

What should be the course of action?

• Adaptation is as important as mitigation though it has received meager attention till now.
• The adaptation and mitigation should be sector and region specific rather than the one size fits all type.
• Agriculture, being the most weather-dependent sector, can thrive only if it manages to adjust to the emerging weather trends through climate resilient technologies and crop varieties.
• Water conservation as well as drainage will need to be improved to contain the impact of droughts and floods.
• Similar well-judged measures will be imperative to protect flora and fauna against various kinds of threats.

How can the adaptation and mitigation process can be financed?

• The economic cost of the adaptation strategies can be huge.
• The resource-starved countries may find hard to afford such a large sum of money without external assistance.
• The solution lies in funding the Green Climate fund.
• The Cancun 2010 climate summit decided to create a Green Climate Fund with annual donations amounting to $100 billion by 2022.
• However the money has not been forthcoming for this purpose.
• The Katowice meet will, therefore, do well to deliberate on this issue and get the Fund going to shield this planet from the wrath of the climate change.

Source: Business Standard