The 23rd Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change concluded recently.
While minor advances have been made, there are still some concerns with financing and the review mechanism.
What are the key outcomes?
The Conference seems to have left some room for satisfaction with the following:
alliances were formed for phasing out coal
decision to putting up green buildings and accelerating eco-mobility
recognising gender in dealing with the issue, in a Gender Action Plan
decision to get indigenous people (adivasis) have a say in climate talks
decision to look into the greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture
Above all, the developing countries stood as a solid bloc demanding a balanced deal.
The key demands centred on getting agreed upon and including in the official agenda the ‘pre-2020 actions’.
This is mainly in reference to the obligations of the developed countries under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol that still has three years to run.
There was also a demand for fixing a deadline for the ratification of 2012 Doha amendments to the Kyoto Protocol to give a legal shape to the ‘pre-2020’ commitments.
An important outcome of CoP 23 is the 'Talanoa Dialogue'.
What is the 'Talanoa Dialogue'?
The countries put in place a road-map for 'Talanoa Dialogue' which is a year-long process to assess the countries' progress on climate actions.
Under this, it was agreed that the next two climate conferences, in 2018 and 2019, will have special ‘stock-taking’ sessions.
This stock-take would focus on the ‘pre-2020 actions’ being taken by different countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
It would also include the progress made by developed nations in their obligations to provide finance and technology support to the developing countries.
This brings a strong message to developed countries that post-2020 climate action as part of the Paris Agreement cannot be divorced from pre-2020 commitments.
What are the shortfalls?
Viewed in isolation, the above developments mean satisfactory progress towards implementation of the Paris Agreement.
However, relative to what needs to be done, these are less significant to make a substantial impact.
Expecting that all countries keep up their Nationally Determined Contributions promises is far from reality.
This is because national actions require cross-border funding and technology flows.
However Paris agreement, in its overall approach, is not very specific about funding and technology support.
Worsening the matters is US's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement despite being the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter.
And China, despite being the second biggest emitter, while making a show of shutting down coal plants on its soil, is building more elsewhere in the world.
What lies ahead?
Developing countries need money and technical know-how for dealing with climatic effects that are already upon them.
The developed countries which are singularly responsible for the climate mess should be made to commit to funding and technology.
India, being a developing country and being vulnerable to climate change should lead the fight against the skewness in approach to fighting climate change.
The negotiators still have to do a lot of work on finalising the rules which would be adopted during the next Conference of Parties (COP24) in Poland in 2018.
