The Paris Agreement came into effect on November 4, 2016, after being approved by 196 nations at the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP 21) in Paris on December 12, 2015. The agreement aims to cut and lessen greenhouse gas emissions. Countries were asked to submit their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) prior to COP 21 in Paris. The pledges from various nations underwent a noticeable change. India was included in the group of rising economies and upheld its reputation as a nation that takes climate change seriously. This article will explain to you about Paris Climate Change Conference COP 21, 2015 which will be helpful in preparing the Environment Syllabus for the UPSC Civil Service exam.

What is the Paris Agreement?

• It is a multinational agreement that was signed as part of the UNFCCC with the intention of reducing and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.
• 196 nations ratified the climate change agreement at the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) in Paris in December 2015. It is an international agreement that is binding on all parties involved.
• Achieving the long-term temperature goal was the purpose of the Paris Climate Accord.
• To attain a world without greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century, nations strive to peak global greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible.
• The Paris Climate Accord's major objective is to keep global warming well below 2° Celsius and ideally below 1.5° Celsius in comparison to pre-industrial levels.
• The Paris Agreement is a watershed moment in the multilateral climate change process because it brings all nations together for the first time in a binding agreement to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.

COP 21 - Objectives

• To keep the rise in the average world temperature to well under 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
• To continue making efforts to keep global warming to 1.5°C over pre-industrial levels, knowing that doing so would greatly lessen the dangers and effects of climate change.
• The Agreement also mentions achieving the global peaking of emissions by the middle of the century while taking into account the fact that developing nation Parties will have a longer peaking period.

How Does Paris Agreement Work?

• The Paris Agreement's implementation necessitates economic and social transformations based on the best available science.
• The Paris Agreement is based on a five-year cycle of increasingly ambitious climate action by countries.
• Countries must submit their climate action plans, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) by 2020.

NDCs

• Countries communicate actions they will take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to meet the Paris Agreement's goals in their NDCs.
• Countries also communicate actions they will take to build resilience in order to adapt to the effects of rising temperatures in their NDCs.

Long Term Strategies

• To better frame long-term efforts, the Paris Agreement invites countries to develop and submit long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies by 2020. (LT-LEDS).
• NDCs benefit from the long-term horizon provided by LT-LEDs. They are not required, unlike NDCs.
• Nonetheless, they situate the NDCs within the context of countries' long-term development planning and priorities, providing a vision and direction for future development.

What are Nationally Determined Contributions?

• At the Conference of the Parties (COP21) of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which took place in Paris in December 2015, nations from all over the world pledged to establish a new global climate agreement by that time.
• In advance of a new international agreement, nations have committed to publicly state their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, or the climate activities they plan to take after 2020.
• The 2015 agreement's ambitious goals and whether the world is put on a course toward a low-carbon, climate-resilient future will be largely determined by the INDCs.
• The Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) of India has also been submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
• The INDC includes protections that aid in reducing emissions, highlights actions taken to adapt to the effects of climate change, and examines what the nation needs to put such actions into action.
• Before the United Nations Climate Change Conference, an assessment phase is conducted after a country submits its INDC data to evaluate its impact.

• While the UNFCCC's COP 21 was taking place and the Paris Agreement was being signed, the following INDC was submitted:
• China: China set a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 to 65%.
• United States: Set a target to cut greenhouse gases by 26–28%
• European Union: Attempts to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40%
• India: Provided a target of 33-35 % for the GDP unit.

*For detailed notes on this topic, check this link Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC)

How are Countries Supporting One Another?

The Paris Agreement establishes a framework for countries in need of financial, technical, and capacity-building assistance.

Finance

The Paris Agreement reaffirms that developed countries should take the lead in providing financial assistance to less endowed and vulnerable countries, while also encouraging voluntary contributions from other Parties for the first time.

Technology

• The Paris Agreement expresses a vision of fully realizing technology development and transfer for both improving climate resilience and lowering GHG emissions.
• It creates a technological framework to provide overarching guidance to the Technology Mechanism.

Capacity Building

Many of the challenges posed by climate change are not adequately addressed in all developing countries. As a result, the Paris Agreement emphasizes climate-related capacity-building for developing countries and requests that all developed countries increase their support for capacity-building actions in developing countries.

How are we Tracking Progress?

• As a result of the Paris Agreement, countries established an enhanced transparency framework (ETF).
• Beginning in 2024, countries will report transparently on actions taken and progress in climate change mitigation, adaptation measures, and assistance provided or received under the ETF.
• It also includes international procedures for reviewing submitted reports.
• The data collected by the ETF will be fed into the Global stocktake, which will assess the global progress toward long-term climate goals.
• This will result in recommendations for countries to develop more ambitious plans for the next round.

Climate Ambition Summit 2020

• The Climate Ambition Summit 2020 was held in Glasgow, Scotland, to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, and it was organized by the United Nations, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Chile.
• The Summit gave corporations, cities, and other non-state actors a significant platform on which to unite and work together to help governments and hasten the structural change necessary to cut emissions and increase resilience.
• The goal of the Climate Ambition Summit was to lay forth new and challenging pledges under the three pillars of the Paris Agreement, which include commitments to finance, adaptation, and mitigation.

Status/Achievement of the Paris Agreement

• Although massive increases in climate change action are required to meet the Paris Agreement's goals, the years since its implementation have already sparked low-carbon solutions and new markets.
• Carbon neutrality targets are being established by an increasing number of countries, regions, cities, and businesses.
• Zero-carbon solutions are becoming more competitive in economic sectors that account for 25% of emissions. This trend is most visible in the power and transportation sectors, where it has created numerous new business opportunities for early adopters.
• Zero-carbon solutions could be competitive in sectors accounting for more than 70% of global emissions by 2030.
• After five years of the accord, every country has submitted its national contributions to combat and prepare for climate change.
• China emits the most greenhouse gases (30%), followed by the US (13.5%) and the EU (8.7%).
• Previously, the emission status was (China at 13% while, the US had the highest emissions at 25 percent, followed by the EU at 22%).
• Only Bhutan, the Philippines, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Morocco, and the Gambia agreed to the Paris Climate Accord, leaving India as the sole exception.
• The contributions are drastically insufficient to achieve temperatures considerably below the Paris Agreement's 1.5° Celsius goal, let alone well below the 2° limit.

India at COP 21

• India announced that it must expand quickly to meet the aspirations of its 1.25 billion people, 300 million of whom lack access to energy.
• However, India has promised to cut emissions intensity per unit GDP by 33-35 percent from 2005 levels despite the rising demands.
• It is aiming to use non-fossil fuels for 40% of its installed capacity.
• By 2022, 175 GW of renewable energy is to be produced.
• India is also preparing to increase the area covered by forests to absorb 2.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide.
• India urged adherence to the values of equity and differentiated obligations.
• Equity, in India's view, entails national commitments that must be in line with the amount of carbon space that each nation has to fill.

India’s Plan for Climate Change Mitigation

• Lower Emissions: Between 2005 and 2030, India intends to lower its emissions intensity by 33 to 35%. India's efforts to combat climate change are having a significant positive development impact.
• Energy Efficiency: In order to do this, it is concentrating on encouraging efficient energy use and accelerating the use of clean and renewable energy by an additional 40% by 2030.
• Afforestation Activities: Through extensive aforestation activities, we also hope to increase our carbon sinks by 2030, adding a capacity of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2.
• Renewable Capacity Expansion Initiatives: India is implementing one of the largest renewable capacity expansion initiatives in the world to meet its targets for growing reliance on renewable energy.
• Other Initiatives: The initiatives include setting up solar parks and power projects, anchoring the International Solar Partnership Alliance (InSPA), establishing Green Energy Corridors to ensure evacuation from renewable energy plants, implementing the National Smart Grid Mission, and introducing new initiatives to increase energy capacity from wind and waste conversion.
• Technological Augmentation: India is increasing its ability to create technology that will successfully address climate change. India is encouraging both energy-efficient and hybrid and renewable energy-powered technology.
  • India's Zero Defect, Zero Effect policy seeks to improve energy and resource efficiency in addition to the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency.
• IPR Regimes: India is also a supporter of IPR regimes that would facilitate cross-national R&D partnerships for the creation and dissemination of clean technologies.
• Low-carbon Growth: India is also working to create technology to support low-carbon growth, with a particular emphasis on technologies for clean fossil fuel generation, energy management, and renewable energy storage systems.
• Goals for Economic Progress: India is clear that attempts at mitigation shouldn't stifle goals for economic progress.
• Changing Emissions Trajectory: India is concentrating on changing the emissions trajectory without compromising the amount of energy needed for the country to grow holistically and collectively.

India’s Plans for Adapting to Climate Change

• India's strategy for combating climate change places a strong emphasis on adaptation strategies, which are also ingrained in Indian culture.
• India's culture values nature, and its traditions are strongly ingrained with an awareness of the environment.
• Here, people have mastered the art of coexisting with nature. In consideration of its population and economic expansion, India has made lifestyle adjustments a key component of its approach to combating climate change.
• In addition, India is one of the countries that has widely used adaptation strategies for climate change.
• In addition to India's National Action Plan on Climate Change, 32 of the country's 28 states and 8 union territories have already submitted their individual State Action Plans on Climate Change (NAPCC).
• In its NAPCC, the country has concentrated 4 of its 8 missions on adaptation measures which were mentioned above.
• India is putting governmental programs into place to support climate-resilient agriculture, effective irrigation systems, watershed management, and organic farming.
• To support these efforts, India established the National Adaptation Fund, which has a 350 crore rupee (US$ 55.6 million) corpus.

India's Perspective on Climate Justice

• India is in a good position to comprehend and balance this demographic's requirements for upliftment with the global agenda for climate change action because a sizeable section of its people is still living below the poverty line.
• India just makes up 2.4 % of the earth's surface but is home to over 17.5 % of the world's people.
• It is home to the biggest percentage of the world's poor—30 %, or 363 million people—as well as around 24 % of those without access to electricity (304 million), 30% of those who cook with solid biomass, and 92 million people without access to clean water.
• These geographical, socioeconomic, and other variables render India particularly susceptible to the effects of climate change.
• Compared to the global average of 1.88 tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) per person, India's average annual energy consumption in 2011 was only 0.6 toe.
• Additionally, India's substantially lower average yearly energy use has allowed it to earn a Human Development Index of 0.586.
• Without a 4-toe per capita energy supply, no nation in the world has been able to reach an HDI of 0.9 or above.
• Thus, India has a long way to go before its people may live decent lives and realize their legitimate aspirations.

Conclusion

Countries should strive to attain the global greenhouse gas emissions peak as soon as possible in order to achieve a climate-neutral world by the middle of the century in order to meet this long-term temperature goal. To help us reach a stable climate, net zero pledges must be believable, responsible, and equitable. Not all states will be able to commit to net zero targets, and this is not something that should be expected. However, all states, including India, can promise to take steps that are credible, responsible, and equitable.

FAQs

Question: What was the main goal of the Paris Agreement (COP 21)?

Question: How many countries are part of the Paris Agreement?

Question: What are Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)?

Question: How does the Paris Agreement promote accountability?

Question: What role did India play at COP 21?

MCQs 

1. The main aim of the Paris Agreement is to:

A) Promote fossil fuel usage

B) Limit global warming to below 2°C or ideally 1.5°C

C) Increase greenhouse gas emissions

D) Ban all industrial activities

2. Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are:

A) Optional goals for businesses

B) Specific commitments by countries for climate action

C) Regional trade agreements

D) Guidelines for fossil fuel use

3. How often must countries report their progress under the Paris Agreement?

A) Every year

B) Every five years

C) Once a decade

D) Never

4. The Paris Agreement was adopted at:

A) COP 15

B) COP 21

C) COP 26

D) COP 10

5. India’s commitment under the Paris Agreement includes:

A) No focus on renewable energy

B) Increasing fossil fuel use

C) Reducing emission intensity and boosting renewable energy

D) Ignoring climate change impacts

GS Mains Questions and Model Answers

Q1: Discuss the significance of the Paris Climate Change Conference (COP 21) in global efforts to combat climate change.

Answer: The Paris Climate Change Conference (COP 21) was a landmark in global climate action, resulting in the Paris Agreement, adopted by 196 countries. Its primary aim is to limit global warming to below 2°C, ideally 1.5°C, above pre-industrial levels. By requiring Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), it emphasizes collective action, transparency, and accountability. Countries must regularly report on their progress, fostering a cooperative approach to mitigating climate change impacts, reducing emissions, and promoting adaptation efforts globally.

Q2: Explain the role of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Answer: NDCs are central to the Paris Agreement, representing the commitments of each country to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. By allowing nations to set their own targets based on capabilities and needs, NDCs promote inclusivity and ambition. Progress is reviewed every five years, ensuring transparency and collective accountability. NDCs encourage countries to implement climate-friendly policies, invest in renewable energy, and adopt sustainable practices, aligning global efforts towards limiting temperature rise and enhancing resilience.

Q3: Analyze the challenges faced by countries in implementing their NDCs under the Paris Agreement.

Answer: Implementing NDCs poses challenges such as financial constraints, lack of technological capacity, and competing development priorities. Developing nations often require financial support and technology transfer from developed countries to meet their commitments. Political and economic barriers can hinder progress, as can limited public awareness and climate change denial. Addressing these challenges demands international cooperation, capacity-building initiatives, and mechanisms like the Green Climate Fund to support equitable climate action and strengthen resilience.

Previous Year Questions on Paris Agreement

1. UPSC CSE 2018

Question: Evaluate the effectiveness of the Paris Agreement in mitigating climate change.

Answer: The Paris Agreement marked a significant step in global climate action by uniting 196 countries in limiting global warming. By encouraging countries to submit and review NDCs, it promotes collective action and accountability. However, its effectiveness depends on stringent implementation, adequate financing, and raising global ambition. Challenges such as insufficient pledges, financial limitations, and non-compliance by key emitters threaten its goals. Enhanced international cooperation, technology transfer, and transparent reporting are essential to achieving the Agreement’s targets.

2. UPSC CSE 2020

Question: Discuss the role of developed and developing countries under the Paris Agreement.

Answer: The Paris Agreement recognizes the common but differentiated responsibilities of developed and developing countries. Developed nations are expected to lead by reducing emissions and providing financial and technical support to developing countries. Developing nations, while taking mitigation and adaptation actions, require support to meet their climate commitments. The success of the Agreement hinges on equitable climate finance, technology transfer, and adherence to ambitious targets by all nations, promoting a balanced approach to global climate action.