NIAS GP Debate on Climate Change

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CWA # 466, 9 May 2021
NIAS GP Debate on Climate Change
The US' Leaders Summit on Climate: Global Issue, Regional Prisms

  GP Team

Avishka Ashok, Akriti Sharma, Abigail Miriam Fernandez, Rashmi Ramesh, Apoorva Sudhakar, Harini Madhusudan & Lokendra Sharma
 

On 22 April, US President Joe Biden hosted the "Leaders Summit on Climate". The summit was attended by 40 world leaders along with business leaders around the globe. He said: "As we transition to a clean energy future, we must ensure workers who have thrived in yesterday's and today's industries have as bright a tomorrow in the new industries as well as in the places where they live." He added: "Time is short, but I believe we can do this," He also announced that the US would cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52 per cent by 2030 below 2005 levels. He further added that the US would double its annual financing commitments to developing countries by 2024. The summit aimed at addressing the climate crisis, including emissions reductions, finance, innovation and job creation, and resilience and adaptation.
 
East Asia  
Five countries from the region, including China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, attended the summit. Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. He also demanded that developed countries should help the developing countries in transitioning to clean energy. He pledged to peak its emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. He also said that the country would strictly control coal-fired power generation projects and phase down coal consumption. Being the world's largest emitter, China did not announce any revised targets. However, Xi committed to cooperate with the US on climate change. 

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced that Japan would ramp up its efforts to reduce its carbon emissions. He pledged to reduce emissions by 46 per cent by 2030 and a net-zero emission of greenhouse gases by 2015. In 2013, the country had aimed for a 26 per cent reduction. The new goals set by Suga will be challenging to achieve but shows Japan's willingness to work towards a cleaner and healthier earth.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced that the country would stop all overseas funding that involves coal power projects. It will also produce a dynamic goal called the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the UN to further climate action. In this effort, the country has increased its national target to a 24.4 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030. 

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called for an end to fossil fuel subsidies. She used the platform to urge other countries to follow New Zealand's actions by pricing carbon, ending fossil fuel subsidies and making climate-related financial disclosures mandatory.

Australia is one among the few countries which refused to change its national goals in reducing emissions substantially. However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison elucidated that Australia was on track and would meet its Paris commitments. Thus, Australia would be working towards reducing emissions by 26 to 28 per cent by 2030, as promised in 2005. The US urged Australia further to reduce its carbon emissions in the coming years. 
 
South Asia 
Three countries, including India, Bangladesh and Bhutan, were invited to the "Leaders Summit on Climate". However, countries like Sri Lanka and Nepal, which are highly vulnerable to climate change, were not invited to the summit. Consequently, South Asia remained inadequately represented at the summit. Also, major economies like India and Bangladesh refrained from announcing new targets.
 
Indian PM Narendra Modi reiterated the previous target of 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030. He also announced the US-India Climate and Clean Energy Partnership to mobilize finance and speed clean energy innovation and deployment. He said: "We at India are doing our part." However, India did not release any new targets ahead of the COP26. 
 
Bangladesh's PM Sheikh Hasina called for an ambitious action plan by the developed countries to reduce their carbon emissions. She demanded USD 100 billion to the developing countries by the developed world. She also announced that Bangladesh would submit the new NDC by later this year.
 
Bhutanese PM announced that the country is drafting a tougher second NDC. He said that Bhutan's development measures are guided by Gross National Happiness. The country is not only carbon neutral but carbon negative. He said: "But even with our efforts we remain highly vulnerable to the impact of climate change." He further added: "I cannot understand this irony of contributing a lot into the environment conservation yet having to suffer so much."
 
Central Asia
From Central Asia, Kazakhstan's Minister of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources participated in the Leaders' Summit on Climate. The minister expressed the country's readiness to participate in the US grant programs for green financing as a pathway to a 71 per cent reduction in emissions, which was outlined as a goal of Kazakhstan's strategy for low-carbon development through 2050. 

Although no US president has ever visited Central Asia, the countries of the region share the Biden administration's agenda of environmental protection. Thus, initiation from the US will draw more attention to renewable energy development and climate change. According to the US Strategy for Central Asia 2019-2025: Advancing Sovereignty and Economic Prosperity, environmental safeguard is one of the core principles. These include C5+1 projects that are being implemented across Central Asia with over USD 34 million from the US in the areas of security, economic connectivity, and the environment.

Middle East
From the region, the heads of states of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Israel attended the Leaders Summit on Climate. 

During the summit, the US committed to the creation of the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate along with the UAE. The goal of this initiative is to accelerate innovation, research and development in agriculture and food systems that will contribute to lowering carbon growth as well as ensure food security. The UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change said that the country is increasing investment in innovation in agriculture and building cities that can survive on solar energy. 

Saudi Arabia's King Salman pressed on the need to boost international cooperation to manage climate change, as it does not "recognize national borders". He mentioned the initiatives taken by the Kingdom, particularly the "Saudi Arabia Green Initiative" and the "Middle East Green Initiative", which were announced by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in March 2021. The initiative aims to reduce the carbon emissions in the region by at least 10 per cent. He also announced plans to host forums on the two initiatives in 2021. 

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would enhance renewable energy production and ensure complete electricity generation through renewables by 2050. However, this is a long-term plan to shut coal-based power plants by 2025 and work towards producing 30 per cent of electricity through renewables. 

In April 2021, US Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry held meetings with the Middle Eastern and other Arab states: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Iraq, Jordan, Sudan, Egypt and Oman. These countries gathered in the UAE for a Regional Climate Dialogue, where climate action was the focus. The Middle East is an important region, given that the countries are arguable amongst the biggest producers of non-renewables, including oil and natural gas. Non-renewables are one of the primary causes of global warming across the globe. In this regard, the inclusion of this region is important, as it brings accountability and has the potential to induce significant policy changes. The Regional Climate Dialogue stated that the countries will work together for the "success of the Paris Agreement and will cooperate with the global partners to strengthen climate ambition."

Africa 
On 22 April, five African presidents participated in the Leaders Summit on Climate. The continent was represented by the presidents of South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Gabon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), along with the President of the African Development Bank.

The participation of African leaders was important as the continent faces some of the worst impacts of climate change despite being one of the least contributors. The ADB President said that Africa incurs a loss of USD 7 billion to USD 15 billion a year to climate change. He cited the IMF and said the amount is expected to rise to USD 50 billion per year by 2040. He added: "Africa is not at net zero. Africa is at ground zero. We must therefore give Africa a lift to get a chance of adapting to what it did not cause." 

Similarly, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the country would revise its targets on carbon emissions. According to the previous target, South Africa was supposed to begin reducing its emissions in 2035. However, Ramaphosa said the country would start reducing in 2025 as the emissions would peak in the same year, thereby shifting by 10 years. He also said South Africa would plan to build the capacity to generate more than 17 GW of renewable energy by 2030.

DRC President Felix Tshisekedi called on the developed countries to mobilize USD 100 billion per year "from 2020 and to raise it by 2025."
 
Europe 
The Prime Minister of Denmark, President of the European Commission, President of the European Council, President of France, Chancellor of Germany, Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister of Norway, President of Poland, President of Russia, Prime Minister of Spain, President of Turkey, and Prime Minister of the UK, attended the Leaders Summit on Climate.
 
German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that Germany has already reduced its emissions by 40 per cent compared to 2019. She reiterated the EU commitment to be climate neutral by 2050. "We want to have at least 55% less emissions by 2030 compared to 1990," she said. 
 
The UK PM Boris Johnson announced that the UK government is aiming to slash the country's emissions by 78 per cent by 2035 compared to 1990 levels. The government previously made a commitment to reduce emissions in 2030 by at least 68 per cent compared to 1990 levels. 
 
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia's ecosystems make a "gigantic" contribution by absorbing about 2.5 billion tonnes of global CO2 emissions a year, noting that decades of restructuring of industry and energy had halved the country's emissions to 1.6 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent compared with 1990
 
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the European Commission had just agreed to Europe's first-ever climate law with the European Parliament and the 27 governments. Mentioning that the agreement is a setting stone of the goals of the European Green Deal to make Europe climate neutral by 2050, she said, "We have also agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030."

On 22 April, ahead of the Biden-led summit, the EU reached a tentative climate deal creating a roadmap to put the 27-nation bloc on a path to being "climate neutral" by 2050. The member states and parliament agreed on binding targets for carbon emissions, thereby extending Europe's political commitment to becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, to also a legal commitment. Under the provisional deal reached, the EU has committed itself to an intermediate target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.

Latin America  
Five Latin American countries, including Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia, participated in the Leaders Summit on Climate. All major economies of the region (Brazil, Mexico, Chile, and Argentina) and one small country (Colombia) were invited to the summit. However, Latin America's representation was comparatively better than that of Africa and Asia. The threats posed by climate change in the region include an increase in extreme weather events, droughts, rising sea level and ocean acidification. The fragile ecosystem of the Amazon and the Andean glaciers are at a huge risk. 

Brazilian President Bolsonaro made surprising announcements. He committed to carbon neutrality by 2050, pledged to double spending on environmental enforcement and reiterated an earlier declared goal of ending deforestation by 2030. Coming as a result of pressure put by the new Biden administration, Bolsonaro's commitments have been met with scepticism given his poor track record, especially with managing the forest fires and deforestation in the Amazon. 

Argentina's President Fernandez said that the country will honour the Paris deal. He committed to "develop 30% of the national energy matrix with renewable energy" and promised to "adopt profound measures to eradicate illegal deforestation, classifying it as an environmental crime."

Mexican President Obrador did not announce any new emissions reduction target. He rather suggested expanding his administration's "Sembrando Vida" (Sowing life) reforestation campaign to entire Mexico and also to Central America. He suggested that the US could consider granting temporary work visas and residence permits to participants for the same. 

Chilean President Pinera reaffirmed the country's commitment to reduce carbon emissions. He called for the establishment of marine protected areas around Antarctica and committed to decarbonizing energy mix by 2040.  Chile has, over the last two years, announced its intention to achieve carbon net-zero by 2050 or earlier.

Colombian President Márquez highlighted that even though his country only contributed 0.6 per cent of the global emissions, they end up being one among 20 most vulnerable countries. He announced a net zero target by 2050 and also called for innovative financial mechanisms to support developing countries in fighting climate change. 

About the authors
Akriti Sharma, Harini Madhusudan, Rashmi BR and Lokendra Sharma are PhD Scholars, Abigail Miriam Fernandez and Apoorva Sudhakar are Research Associates and Avishka Ashok is a Research Assistant at the School of Conflict and Security Studies at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore.

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