COP is a yearly summit held under United Nations Framework Convention on climate change (UNFCCC). Meetings act as conference of parties hence, acronym. inaugural COP summit was held in 1995 in Berlin, Germany. In COP meetings Parties(governments) brainstorm to assess efforts to advance key Paris agreement aim of limiting global warming close to 1.5° Celsius of pre-industrial levels. It also aims to aid countries to green their economies and build resilience to climate change.
The 28th edition of Conference of parties is being held in Dubai (UAE) under the presidentship of Sultan al-Jaber (Minister of Industry and advanced Technology of UAE). Leaders from more than 190 countries are attending the event along with more than 70,000 Delegates from around the world.
Despite countries unanimously agreeing that CO2 emissions must go down, Latest report by International Energy Agency Suggests Global energy-related CO2 emissions grew by 0.9% or 321 Metric Tons in 2022, more importantly CO2 emission caused by coal usage has gone high by 1.6% and oil induced emission has soared up by startling 2.5%.
It is worth noticing that the 9 warmest years since last 143 years of recorded history are between 2014-2023. The average Global Temperature by current trend is expected to grow by 2.5° to 3° Celsius well above Paris goal of 1.5° Celsius.
An analysis by Delhi based Think tank "Council for Energy Environment and Water" (CEEW) suggests USA, European Union and Russia are responsible for Three-Fourth of global carbon footprint and are expected to emit 30% more by 2030. US alone is responsible for more than 25% of all historic emission since 1775, in contrast India is responsible for only 3.4% of global emission. The COPs have so far failed to mitigate the same.
· The COP-28 incorporates 4 cross cutting themes: Technology & Innovation, Inclusion, Frontline Communities and Finance.
· Fast tracking the process of slashing the emission of greenhouse gases by 2030
· Delivering money from richer countries to poorer countries for climate action.
· Making the COP-28 most inclusive ever.
Loss and damage fund with initial corpus of $450 million has been adopted on Day-1 of COP. This fund is pledged by Developed countries and will be used to compensate damaged caused by climate change induced calamities in developing nations.
India’s participation being a major developing economy and largest population becomes very crucial. India also expects a clear road map for climate financing at COP.
PM Modi delivered a special address to COP28 at Dubai, he offered to host the COP-33 summit in India in 2028, while proposing a new pro-planet Green Credits initiative for the creation of carbon sinks through community participation.
PM said “We do not have much time to rectify the mistakes of the previous century. A small part of humanity has blindly exploited nature. But the entire humanity, especially the residents of Global South, is paying the price.”
He Added “Our goal is to reduce emissions intensity by 45 per cent by 2030. We have decided to increase the share of non-fossil fuels to 50 per cent. And we will continue progressing towards the goal of net-zero emissions by 2070.”
