International Environmental Agreements.pdf

International environmental agreements

1. International Environmental
Agreements
Presentation by:
Dr. GazalaHabib
Room 303, Block IV
Department of Civil Engineering
IIT Delhi
(4
th
November, 2016)

2. Vital alarming statistics !!
2
•Sealevelrise:3.41mm/year
•GlobalaverageCO
2:September2016atmosphericCO
2average
~404.42ppm{Firsttimeinhistory>400ppmCO
2for>1year
(2015-2016)}.
•GlobalTemperature:1.7ºFsinceyear1880.
•Arcticsummerseaice:Shrunktolowestextentonrecord.
(13.3%perdecaderecently!!).
•Greenlandiceloss:Doubledbetween1996and2005(around
281gigatonnesperyear).
Source: http://climate.nasa.gov/

3. Atmospheric CO
2Levels: Historical Perspective
Source: NOAA, 2016
Mauna Loa:
Hawaii Islands
Vostok & Law Dome:
Antartica

4. Atmospheric CO
2Levels: Recent data
Source: NOAA, 2016

5. Source: NASA, 2015

6. Global Sea Level Rise
Source: NASA, 2015

7. Important Terms
•Pre-industrialtime:Referstoperiodbeforeyear1750.
•GreenHouseGases(GHGs):Watervapor(H
2O),CO
2,
methane(CH
4),Nitrousoxide(N
2O),Ozone(O
3),
Chlorofluorocarbons(CFCs)
•Signatory:Aparty(country)thatsignalegallybinding
documentatanytreaty,convention,conference,etc.
•Ratification:Officialadoptionofanytreaty,agreement,etc.
signedbyaparty(country)byitsparliament/lawmaking
bodybyvotingandsecuringamajority.

8. Climate Change: Definitions
Inter-governmentalPanelonClimateChange(IPCC):
“Achangeinthestateoftheclimatethatcanbeidentified(e.g.,byusing
statisticaltests)bychangesinthemeanand/orthevariabilityofitsproperties,
andthatpersistsforanextendedperiod,typicallydecadesorlonger.Climate
changemaybeduetonaturalinternalprocessesorexternalforcing,orto
persistentanthropogenicchangesinthecompositionoftheatmosphereorin
landuse”
TheUnitedNationsFrameworkConventiononClimateChange(UNFCCC):
“Achangeofclimatewhichisattributeddirectlyorindirectlytohuman
activitythataltersthecompositionoftheglobalatmosphereandwhichisin
additiontonaturalclimatevariabilityobservedovercomparabletimeperiods”.

9. Various Environmental Organizations
9
INTER-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS:
•United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
•IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) [1988]
•World Bank
•International Energy Agency (IEA)
•Earth System Governance Project [2009]
•Global Environment Facility[1991]
GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION:
•Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change.
•Central/State Pollution Control Boards/Agencies.
NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION (NGO) :
•International (e.g. Green Peace, WWF)
•Country Specific (e.g. CSE)

10. UN CONFERENCES
&
PROTOCOLS
ON
ENVIRONMENT,
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT , CLIMATE
CHANGE

11. 11
UN Conference on Human Environment, Stockholm (1972)
(Effect of Environmental degradation on Quality of Human Life)
Vienna Convention (1985)
(Protection of Ozone Layer)
Montreal Protocol (1989)
(Total Elimination of Ozone Depleting Substances)
Basal Convention (1989)
(Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous waste)
Geneva Convention (1990)
(Technology and financial help to Developing Countries)
UN Convention on Climate Change, New York (1992)
Economic Development and Environmental Protection
Bio-diversity Convention, Nairobi (1992)
(Preservation of Earth’s Bio-diversity)

12. 12
UN Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit)
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1992)
(Environment and Sustainable Development)
Kyoto Protocol (1997)
(Stabilization of Green House Gases)
World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg (2002)
(International Solidarity on Environmental Issues)
Copenhagen Summit (2009)
(Road map for Post-Kyoto treaties)
Bali, Indonesia (2007)
Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention(AWG-LCA)
established
United Nations Climate Change Conference, Doha, Qatar (2012)
(The Doha Climate Gateway)
Paris Agreement (2016)
(Targets for everyone)

13. Montreal Protocol 1987
13
•Mainprovisions:
–Requirementforindividualcountriestophase
outtheproductionandconsumptionof
designatedsubstances(CFC’s)
–Amultilateralfundintowhichdeveloped
countriescouldcontributefundsthatwouldbe
usedtohelpdevelopingcountriesachievethe
controlmeasuresspecifiedintheagreement
–Banontradeindesignatedozone-depleting
chemicalse.g.thosecontainingCFC’s.

14. Ozone Depleting Gas Index
ODGI 2016: 81.4
Source: NOAA, 2016

15. KYOTO PROTOCOL (1997)
15
TheUNmembercountriesdividedinto:
AnnexIcountries:Industrializedcountriesandeconomiesin
transition.
AnnexIIcountries:Developedcountrieswhichpayforcostsof
developingcountries.
NonAnnexIcountries:Developingcountries.

18. Kyoto Protocol: Mechanisms

19. Kyoto Protocol (1997)
19
Brown = Countries that have signed and ratified the treaty
(Annex I & II countries in dark brown)
Blue = No intention to ratify at this stage.
Dark blue = Canada, which withdrew from the Protocol in December 2011.
Grey = no position taken or position unknown
Source: UNFCCC, 2016

20. Annex I, II & Non Annex Parties
Source: UNFCCC, 2016

21. CO
2before & after Kyoto Protocol
Source: UNFCCC, 2015

22. 22

23. Paris Agreement on Climate Change, 2016
23
•On12December2015,theParisAgreementwasadoptedasanagreement
withintheUNFCCCframework.
•192countrieshavesignedthisagreement(includingIndia).
•94Countrieshaveratified(includingIndia).
•Indiaratifiedon02October2016.
•Itwillcomeintoforceon4November2016afterratificationby55UNFCCC
Parties,accountingfor55%ofglobalgreenhousegasemissions.
•ParisAgreementwillreplacetheKyotoProtocolafteritssecondcommitment
periodendson31January2020.

24. Importance of Paris Agreement, 2016
24
Forthefirsttimeinmorethan20yearsof
UN’sclimatenegotiations,theCOP21
accomplishedalegallybindingand
universalagreementonclimate:the
ParisAgreement.

25. Provisions in Paris Agreement
25
•Along-termtargettolimittheriseintheglobaltemperature“towellbelow2
0
C
(3.6
0
F)abovepre-industriallevels”andappealedtocountriestoengageinefforts
torestricttheincreaseto1.5
0
C.
•Apromisetogenerateaglobalassessmentofclimateimprovementby2018;
andthenationswillbebacktothenegotiatingtableby2020forpresenting
climateobjectivesthatwouldrepresentanadvancementaheadoftheirthen-
existingtarget.
•Voluntarypledgesmadeby188parties(countries)toclimatechangeactionin
theshapeofIntendedNationallyDeterminedContributions(INDCs).
•Emissions-slashingpledgesfromindividualcountriesandpromisestohelpthe
developingnationsadapttothedetrimentaleffectsofglobalwarming.Moreover,the
negotiatorsagreedonmeasurestoamend,strengthen,andscrutinizecountries’
individualcontributions(INDCs).

26. Common But Differentiated Responsibility (CBDR)
(India’s Standpoint)
26
•Stressestheneedforequityandfairness
(ashighlightedbythedevelopingcountries).
•Obligationonallparties(countries)totake
climateactioninconsiderationoftheir
respectivedomestic/nationalcircumstances.

27. India Ratifies the Paris Climate Agreement.
What does it mean?
27

28. India’s Ratification of Paris Agreement
28
•IndiaratifiedtheParisagreementonclimate
changeon2
nd
October2016.
•Indiaistheworld’s4th-largestcarbon
emitteraccountingfor4.1%ofthetotal
globalemission,isthe62ndnationto
ratifytheagreement.

29. India’s Commitments in Paris Agreement
29
•ReductioninemissionsintensityperunitGDPby33to35%
belowthe2005levelby2030.
•Theaimistoproduce40%ofthetotalelectricityfromsources
otherthanfossilfuels.
•Creationofanadditionalcarbonsinkof2.5to3billiontonnes
ofcarbon-dioxidethroughextraforestandtreecoverby2030.
•Voluntarilyinstalling175GWofrenewablepowercapacityby
2022(Targetsare100GWofelectricityfromsolarenergy,of
which40GWwouldbethroughindividualrooftopsystems.

30. Volunteer Tasks for you !!
1. Watch and share these documentary movies:
•An Inconvenient Truth (By Al Gore).
•Before the Floods (By Leonardio Caprio).
2. Read the book “Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet” by
Mark Lynas.
(Summary at:
http://www.sustainablewoodstock.co.uk/onetwo%20degrees%20
summary.pdf)