Current Affair 1:

What is the Conference of Parties (COP)?

 

This year, the UK in partnership with Italy is hosting the twenty-sixth session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), popularly known as COP26, from 31 October to 12 November 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland.

UNFCC was signed in 1992 and came into force in 1994

In 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Earth Summit, was convened in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where the leaders of more than 100 countries met to discuss the urgent issues of environmental protection and socio-economic development.

In this conference, countries signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which took effect later in 1994. A total of 197 countries have ratified the Convention and are termed as Parties to the Convention.

The main objective of the UNFCCC is to achieve the stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous interference with the climate system.

‘Conference of the Parties’ is held every year to discuss and review climate actions

The conferences are held on an annual basis and are considered the supreme decision-making body of the Convention. All the Parties to the Convention are represented at the COP by the respective leaders.

The first COP was held in Germany

The first Conference of the Parties or COP1 was held in Berlin, Germany in 1995 after the UNFCCC came into force in 1994.

Paris agreement was signed in COP21 to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees

COP21 took place in Paris in 2015. In this conference, for the first time, all the countries consented to work together to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees and aim for 1.5 degrees compared to the preindustrial levels. The target of 1.5 degrees was arrived at because each fraction of a degree rise in global temperature has a drastic effect resulting in the loss of many lives and destroying livelihoods. The 196 Parties at the COP21 in Paris signed the Paris Agreement to commit to the targets.

India aimed to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33% to 35% by 2030   India’s commitments during COP21 when the Paris Agreement was signed are listed below.   To reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33% to 35% by 2030 from the 2005 level. By 2030, around 40% of all-electric power would come from renewable sources like wind and solar. Plant enough trees and cover the land area with forests by 2030 to create a carbon sink to absorb about 2.5 billion tonnes to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. To mobilize domestic and new & additional funds from developed countries to implement the above mitigation and adaptation actions in view of the resources required and the resource gap

Current Affair 2:

Minamata Convention COP-4

 

News: The first segment of the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP-4) takes place online from 1 to 5 November with over a thousand participants and an ambitious programme of work.   Under the presidency of Indonesia, the first segment of the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP-4) is taking place online from 1 to 5 November 2021.

 

About the Minamata Convention

The Minamata Convention on Mercury is the most recent global agreement on environment and health, adopted in 2013. It is named after the bay in Japan where, in the mid-20th century, mercury-tainted industrial wastewater poisoned thousands of people, leading to severe health damage that became known as the “Minamata disease”. Since it entered into force on 16 August 2017, 135 Parties have been working together to control the mercury supply and trade, reduce the use, emission and release of mercury, raise public awareness, and build the necessary institutional capacity.

Financial Mechanism

The Minamata Convention on Mercury, under Article 13, sets up a financial mechanism to support developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition in implementing their obligations under the Convention.  The Mechanism is composed of:

• The Global Environment Facility Trust Fund (GEF)
• The Specific International Programme (SIP) to support capacity-building and technical assistance

 

Current Affair 3:

Panchamrita’ concoction

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed a five-fold strategy for India to play its part in helping the world get closer to 1.5 degrees Celsius on the first day of the global climate meet in Glasgow.

Several world leaders have descended or would turn up in Glasgow for the 26th Conference of Parties (CoP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, starting November 1, 2021.

The prime minister euphemistically termed his scheme as ‘Panchamrita’ meaning the ‘five ambrosia’.

Current Affair 4:

Enhanced Adaptation for Smallholder Agricultural Programme (ASAP+)

 

Small-scale producers remain underserved by global climate finance. They bear the devastating consequences of a changing climate, degraded soils, food insecurity and irregular migration. So far only about 1.7 per cent of the money invested globally in climate finance is reaching small-scale producers.

The Enhanced Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP+) is a 100 per cent climate financing mechanism and is envisioned to be the largest

It is a fund dedicated to channelling climate finance to small-scale producers.

It is  flagship programme of International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The International Fund for Agricultural Development is an international financial institution and a specialised agency of the United Nations that works to address poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries.

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