Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Mains level: Challenges due to climate change;
Why in the News?
Although voters voiced concerns about the climate crisis, it was overlooked during the Lok Sabha election campaign.
2023 Climate Targets of Indian Government
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Why is addressing the climate crisis an urgent priority for policymakers and the global community?
- The Paris Agreement includes a commitment for developed countries to mobilize $100 billion per year by 2020 to support climate action in developing countries. This target was extended until 2025, with new financial goals.
- The next five years are crucial for India’s climate action to meet its ambitious 2030 targets, as the Roadmap for 2025 Climate Change Funds are about to end.
- India’s heavy dependence on coal, with clean energy contributing only 22% of the electricity mix, underscores the need for an urgent transition.
- Immediate attention is required to manage heat stress, improve air quality, handle waste, and enhance energy efficiency.
What specific actions or policies can be implemented?
- Enhanced Carbon Markets: Launching the ‘India Carbon Market’ in 2026 aims to help achieve Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and could become the world’s largest emissions trading system by 2030.
- Mitigating Pollutants: Focus on reducing CO2 and short-lived superpollutants like methane, black carbon, and hydrofluorocarbons, which have significant short-term warming effects.
- Integrating specific treaties into the Paris Agreement, similar to the Montreal Protocol, with a new treaty targeting methane reductions by 2030 would be helpful.
- Financial Incentives: Developing financial mechanisms and nuanced carbon trading approaches to encourage faster climate action and effective pollutant management.
What challenges or barriers exist in the implementation of a comprehensive climate crisis agenda?
- Governance and Coordination: Need for a Constitutional nodal authority to ensure coordinated climate action across various government levels and stakeholders.
- Economic and Social Factors: Rising temperatures and associated crises like unemployment and high living costs contribute to public disengagement from climate issues.
- Political and Voter Engagement: The 2024 Lok Sabha election’s lack of focus on climate issues highlights the challenge of integrating climate action into mainstream political agendas and addressing voter concerns.
Way forward:
- Create a Constitutional Nodal Authority: Form a central body with the authority to oversee, coordinate, and enforce climate policies across various government levels, ensuring effective and unified action.
- Prioritize Climate Issues in Political Platforms: Make climate action a central theme in political campaigns and public discussions to boost awareness, engagement, and support for climate policies and initiatives.
Mains PYQ:
Q ‘Climate change’ is a global problem. How India will be affected by climate change? How Himalayan and coastal states of India will be affected by climate change? (UPSC IAS/2017)
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