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1. Environment Class 01 - 26_11_21

The document provides an analysis of climate change, its causes, impacts, and the effects on vulnerable populations, including refugees, women, children, and indigenous people. It discusses the weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, climate finance challenges, and the need for climate action plans, particularly for coastal cities and in India. The document emphasizes the importance of international cooperation and specific strategies to address climate change and its multifaceted impacts.

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31 views3 pages

1. Environment Class 01 - 26_11_21

The document provides an analysis of climate change, its causes, impacts, and the effects on vulnerable populations, including refugees, women, children, and indigenous people. It discusses the weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, climate finance challenges, and the need for climate action plans, particularly for coastal cities and in India. The document emphasizes the importance of international cooperation and specific strategies to address climate change and its multifaceted impacts.

Uploaded by

ilearnnexus
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Summary
Environment Class 01

Analysis of sub-topics & previous year questions

Climate Change (1:38 PM)

Causes - Natural & Anthropogenic (due to Greenhouse gases)


Impacts
Climate zones have shifted poleward.
Increases in the frequency of compound extreme events
Global retreat of glacier since the 1950s is unprecedented
Growing season has on average lengthened by up to two days per decade
The Arctic Sea ice area has decreased about 40% between 1979-88 and 2010-19.
Global mean sea level increased by 0.2 m between 1901 and 2018.
Nine tipping points
Amazon Rainforest
Arctic Sea ice
Atlantic Circulation
Boreal Forest
Coral Reef
Greenland ice sheet
Permafrost
West Antarctic ice sheet
Wilkes Basin
Key aspects of Paris Agreement
Long term temp goal (below 2 deg celsius)
Global peaking and ‘climate neutrality’
Mitigation (binding commitments, NDCs)
Global stocktake (in 2023 and every 5 years thereafter)
Voluntary cooperation/Market and non-market based approaches (Art 6)
Addressing Loss and damage
Framework for Finance, tech and capacity building support
Transparency, implementation and compliance framework
Efforts made
Montreal Protocol, 1987
IPCC, 1988
UNFCCC, 1992
Kyoto Protocol, 2005
Paris Agreement, 2015

Impact of Climate change on vulnerable sections (1:49 PM)

On Refugees
Who are Climate Refugees?
Large scale migration and cross-border movements of people that were partly caused by such weather-related
disasters.
Status - as per IEP (Inst for Economics and Peace) 1.2 bn people by 2050.
Challenges
Harder to identify
They are mainly internal
Recognition - they are not covered by 1951 convention relating to the Status of Refugees.
Isolating environment/climatic reasons is difficult
Growing xenophobic tendencies across the globe
Way Forward
Developing a Conceptual framework
Govts should come together to help climate refugees.
Full use of existing Laws and instruments
Initiatives
New York Declaration (2016)
Global Compact on safe, orderly and regular migration, 2018
Impact on Women
Economical factors
They constitute the majority of the world’s poor.
They are more dependent for their livelihood on natural resources that are threatened by climate change.
Political factors
LImited access to and control of environmental goods and services.
Negligible participation in decision making
Socio-cultural factors
Societal role and responsibility prevents women from migration/relocation.
It can expose women to new risks.
It leads to increased violence against women.
Way forward
Women possess historically developed knowledge and skills related to water harvesting and storage, food
preservation and rationing, and natural resource management.
Tech developments related to climate change should take into account women’s specific priorities, needs and
roles, and make full use fo their knowledge and expertise.
Adaptation initiatives should identify and address gender-specific impacts of climate change
On Child Rights
Recently a UNICEF report introduced CCRI (Children’s Climate Risk Index).
It ranks countries based on how vulnerable children are to environmental stresses and extreme weather events.
Children in India are facing extremely high risk as per this report.
Children are more vulnerable than adults
Physical vulnerability and Physiological vulnerability
Climate policies often neglect specific risks to children.
Any deprivation due to climate change can result in lifetime of lost opportunity.
Way Forward
Investing heavily in adaptation and resilience of social services
Understanding children’s vulnerability
On Indigenous People (2:28 PM)
Tribal and local people
Impact
Climate-related displacement
Damaging links to nature
Increased vulnerability to impacts from climate change due to systemic discrimination
Way forward
They have expertise rooted in their traditional knowledge which could be utilized to overcome the climate crisis.
Making adaptation and mitigation efforts suitable to indigenous communities.
Rights based approach in conservation

Weakening of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) (2:54 PM)

Thermohaline Circulation (THC)


Reasons
Freshwater due to glacier melting
Weakening of Gulf Stream
Dilution due to increased rainfall and river run-off.
Impact
Changes in regional climate e.g. decreased rainfall and temperature over Europe.
Sea level rise at US east coast
Socio-economic impacts
Way forward
Improve long-term monitoring of AMOC.
Improve understanding of past AMOC changes.

Climate Finance (3:09 PM)

Financing is directed towards the implementation of mitigation and adaptation measures.


Status - IPCC report - 1.6 to 3.8 trillion dollars need to be raised per year to keep the temp below 1.5 deg celsius.
In 2019 only 80 billion was raised.
Climate-Smart Public-Private Partnership
Characteristics
Formalized partnership
Risk sharing
Financial reward for private parties
Benefits
Reduces burden on local finance (govt)
Allocation of different risks to parties most suited to manage them.
Inclusive framework
Tech expertise of private sector
Improved implementation and service delivery
Examples
P4G
Community Development Carbon Fund
Challenges
Policy and regulatory uncertainty
Deterministic contract vs uncertain events
Lack of insurance against climate risks
Way forward
Supporting de-risking of climate finance
Effective risk sharing
Systematic evaluation

Climate Finance and Small Island Developing States (3:23 PM)

OECD report has highlighted that finance has decreased in recent years.
What are SIDS?
39Â nations are classified as SIDS by th UN. They represent 1% of the world population. They are particularly
vulnerable to impacts of climate change.
Challenges faced by SIDS
Geographical vulnerability
Narrow economic base
Dependence on external aid
Vicious cycle of higher vulnerability
How can climate finance help?
Making their economies resilient and greener
Strategically intervening to halt vicious cycle of vulnerability
Help SIDS develop better adaptation mechanisms
Addressing the larger goal of halting climate change
Challenges faced in accessing finance
Limited capacity
Dependence on a limited number of donors
Most of the funding is going to mitigation rather than adaptation
Global climate funds have complex requirements

Climate Action Plan for Coastal Cities (3:31 PM)

Why in news - BMC is drafting a Mumbai Climate Action Plan.


It is a strategic framework prepared to deal with climate change-related challenges.
Process of Climate Action Plan
Establish the overall vision for climate change mitigation and adaptation
Secure political commitments to achieve their vision
Develop a communication plan
Secure multi-stakeholder, cross-sectoral support
Identify and prioritize actions
Develop a plan for implementation
Need of a climate action plan for coastal cities
Hazards such as storm surges.
Drinking Water scarcity
Extreme weather events like cyclones
Government initiatives
NAPCC along with direction to states to develop SAPCC in line with NAPCC.
Odisha, Gujarat and Mumbai.
National Coastal Mission - proposed in 2019 by MoEF&CC.
Way forward
More funding mechanisms
Risk assessment of coastal regions
Climate Information Services access should be provided to coastal regions
Proper implementation of Coastal Regulation Zone Rules.

India and Climate Action (3:44 PM)

Assessment of Climate change over the Indian region -


0.7 deg rise in avg temp between 1902-2018.
1 deg rise in SST of the tropical Indian ocean between 1951-2015.
IPCC AR6 predictions related to Indian region for the 21st century -
More intense and frequent heat waves and humid heat stress.
Rise in regional mean sea level and related coastal impacts
Increase in occurrence and intensity of flooding events, droughts, and tropical cyclones.
Increase in both annual and summer monsoon precipitation, with enhanced interannual variability.
India’s climate commitments at COP26 summit in Glasgow (Panchamrit)
Achieve the target of Net Zero by the year 2070.
Increase non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030.
Meet 50% of its energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030.
Reduce the total projected carbon emissions by 1 bn tonnes from now till 2030.
Reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by less than 45% by 2030.
Challenges related to India’s climate action
Coal dependency
Balancing growth and environment
Lack of ambition in India’s commitments
Rising emissions from agri sector
Need of investment
Issue in implementation of the climate missions.
Way Forward
Ensuring adequate support form developed to developing countries
Net negative emissions from developed nations
Phasing out coal
Developing a strategy for net zero goals.

Next class will continue from the Climate Change Law topic...

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