By Portus Chege
USA: Developed nations continue to pay lip service to Climate Change, thereby putting paid to global efforts to curb the menace, and the United States of America is most culpable on that score.
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, such as through variations in the solar cycle. But since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas.
And that is why humans must be at the epicenter of actions to combat Climate Change.
Burning fossil fuels generates greenhouse gas emissions that act like a blanket wrapped around the Earth, trapping the sun’s heat and raising temperatures.
Examples of greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change include carbon dioxide and methane. These come from using gasoline for driving a car or coal for heating a building, for example.
Clearing land and forests can also release carbon dioxide. Landfills for garbage are a major source of methane emissions. Energy, industry, transport, buildings, agriculture, and land use are among the main emitters.
The Paris Agreement
To help curb Climate Change, world nations came up with the Paris Agreement, which is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. But industrialized nations often have obeyed the obligations in word rather than in deed.
Adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016, its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate-neutral world by mid-century.
The Paris Agreement is a landmark in the multilateral climate change process because, for the first time, a binding agreement brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.
The Paris Agreement reaffirms that developed countries should take the lead in providing financial assistance to countries that are less endowed and more vulnerable, while for the first time also encouraging voluntary contributions by other Parties. Climate finance is needed for mitigation because large-scale investments are required to reduce emissions significantly.
Climate finance is equally important for adaptation, as significant financial resources are needed to adapt to the adverse effects and reduce the impacts of a changing climate.
Implementation
Implementation of the Paris Agreement requires economic and social transformation, based on the best available science. The Paris Agreement works on a 5- year cycle of increasingly ambitious climate action carried out by countries. Countries submit their plans for climate action known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
In their NDCs, countries communicate actions they will take to reduce their Greenhouse Gas emissions in order to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement. Countries also communicate in the NDCs actions they will take to build resilience to adapt to the impacts of rising temperatures.
The US Climate Change Conundrum and developing countries
Developed and industrialized nations often have paid lip service to their commitments to the Paris Agreement obligations while in fact continuing their greenhouse gas emissions.
The United States of America (hereinafter the US) has in fact ironically stepped up its greenhouse gas emissions while in words brandishing the Paris Agreement. This is antithetical to the global fight against Climate Change and sets a bad example to the rest of the world.
Climate action requires significant financial investments by governments and businesses. One critical step is for industrialized countries to fulfill their commitment to providing $100 billion a year to developing countries so they can adapt and move towards greener economies.
Not all developing countries have sufficient capacities to deal with many of the challenges brought by climate change. As a result, the Paris Agreement places great emphasis on climate-related capacity-building for developing countries and requests all developed countries to enhance support for capacity-building actions in developing countries.
Adapting to climate consequences protects people, homes, businesses, livelihoods, infrastructure, and natural ecosystems. It covers current impacts and those likely in the future. Adaptation will be required everywhere but must be prioritized now for the most vulnerable people with the fewest resources to cope with climate hazards. The rate of return can be high. Early warning systems for disasters, for instance, save lives and property and can deliver benefits up to 10 times the initial cost.
US President Joe Biden has committed to reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 50-52% below 2005 levels in 2030. For good measure, and ambitiously, he hopes the US will reach 100% carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035.
In theory, the US Administration’s Executive Order “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad” identifies the immediate need for comprehensive action to address the catastrophic impacts of climate change.
What has Biden done for climate change?
In August 2022, Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which includes the largest federal climate change investment in American history ($391 billion).
The United States has set a goal of net-zero emissions by no later than 2050 and is economy-wide. The goal is on a net basis, including both sources of emissions and removals.
Curiously, the plan does not include emissions from international aviation or international shipping.
The Solution
Many climate change solutions can deliver economic benefits while improving lives and protecting the environment. Global frameworks and agreements to guide progress include the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Sustainable Development Goal 13 (SDG 13 or Global Goal 13) is about climate action and is one of 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. The official mission statement of this goal is to “Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change established an international environmental treaty to combat “dangerous human interference with the climate system”, in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.
Categories of Action
Three broad categories of action are: cutting emissions, adapting to climate impacts, and financing required adjustments.
Switching energy systems from fossil fuels to renewables like solar or wind will reduce the emissions driving climate change. While a growing coalition of countries is committing to net zero emissions by 2050, about half of emissions cuts must be in place by 2030 to keep warming below 1.5°C. Fossil fuel production must decline by roughly 6 percent per year between 2020 and 2030.
Long-Term Strategies
To better frame the efforts towards the long-term goal, the Paris Agreement invites countries to formulate and submit long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies (LT-LEDS).
LT-LEDS provides the long-term horizon to the NDCs. Unlike NDCs, they are not mandatory. Nevertheless, they place the NDCs into the context of countries’ long-term planning and development priorities, providing a vision and direction for future development.
Tracking progress
With the Paris Agreement, countries established an enhanced transparency framework (ETF). Under ETF, starting in 2024, countries will report transparently on actions taken and progress in climate change mitigation, adaptation measures, and support provided or received. It also provides for international procedures for the review of the submitted reports.
The information gathered through the ETF will feed into the Global stocktake which will assess the collective progress toward the long-term climate goals.
This will lead to recommendations for countries to set more ambitious plans in the next round.
Achievements thus far
Although climate change action needs to be massively increased to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, the years since its entry into force have already sparked low-carbon solutions and new markets. More and more countries, regions, cities, and companies are establishing carbon neutrality targets. Zero-carbon solutions are becoming competitive across economic sectors representing 25% of emissions. This trend is most noticeable in the power and transport sectors and has created many new business opportunities for early movers.
By 2030, zero-carbon solutions could be competitive in sectors representing over 70% of global emissions.
Egypt CoP27 Climate Change Conference
At the Sharm el-Sheikh Climate Change Conference (COP 27), countries came together to take action toward achieving the world’s collective climate goals as agreed upon under the Paris Agreement. The conference took place from 6-20 November 2022 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
The event focused on accountability, fairness, and an assessment of non-State progress at COP27, and featured keynote speeches from The High-Level Climate Champions, Nigel Topping and Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldein; Environmental and human rights activist, Helena Gualinga; Omnia El Omrani, COP27 Youth Envoy; and Mary Robinson, Chair of The Elders.
Speaking to assembled national government representatives, the Champions presented the Summary of Global Climate Action at CoP27. The Summary, along with the Yearbook of Global Climate Action 2022, demonstrates how the Champions and the Marrakech Partnership have delivered the first year of their five-year plan for the Improved Marrakech Partnership for Enhancing Ambition and their action throughout COP27.
It recognizes that mobilizing ‘all of society’ action with State climate plans can unlock an upward cycle of implementation, and lists the headline outcomes at COP27 that have been mobilized under the Marrakech Partnership.
Each outcome supports one of the four priority areas identified in the 2022 Marrakech Partnership Workplan: strengthening and mainstreaming resilience, increasing finance for climate action, accelerating action, and building credibility and trust – collectively helping to realize the goal of a 1.5°C, resilient world.
Action by businesses, investors, cities, states, regions, and civil societies continues to increase, with 34 Race to Resilience partners from 139 countries taking action to build the resilience of 2.9 billion people. At the same time, 26 Race to Zero partners has mobilized more than 11,000 non-State actors.
At the conclusion of CoP27, UN Secretary-General António Guterres challenged member parties to undertake more action to combat climate change.
“The world still needs a giant leap in climate ambition. CoP27 concludes with much homework and little time,” the UN Secy said.
The 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (CoP 28) will convene from 30 November to 12 December 2023. It will take place in the United Arab Emirates.
It, therefore, behooves developed nations to honor their commitments to the Paris Agreement if the global fight against Climate Change has to have any meaning. Otherwise, global efforts will ring hollow- imperiling the whole world, including the same developed nations, notably US.
Portus Chege is a freelance journalist based in the USA.
