The recent annual UN Climate Change Conference held in Baku, Azerbaijan has been a pivotal initiative in embracing action planning for reducing the carbon emissions and to limit long-term global warming. The intensifying heatwaves, floods, wildfires, droughts and tropical cyclones are a concerning factor in context of the global environmental changes as per World Meteorological Organization’s 2023 report on the state of the global climate. It is disillusioning to note that it has been a decade since the settlement of the Paris Agreement but the goal of limiting long-term global warming to 1.5°C is still not achieved. Global warming is on the rise and our planet earth is constantly under environmental threats.
Climate change is a classic global common issue resulting from long-term changes in temperatures and weather patterns which is the outcome of shifts in the sun’s activity and volcanic eruptions. The changes on the planet earth are also attributed to human activities, particularly burning of fossil fuels since the 1800s, which emit carbon dioxide. Human activities such as burning fossil fuels, producing solid waste, cutting trees, destroying biological materials and other chemical reactions such as cement production are altering the carbon cycle by contributing to carbon emissions in the atmosphere.
It senta n actionable signal to global stakeholders about the seriousness of climate commitments and built a foundation for transformative climate action leading towards net zero emissions and building resilient societies. In a nutshell, it offered meaningful progress in tackling the environmental changes by reinforcing global confidence in climate agreements
Increased urbanization and industrialization are also responsible for environmental hazards commonly pointed out. Greenhouse gases particularly methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases lead to environmental damage and these are released owing to transformations in the land-use by livestock, coal production, natural gas and oil and by decay of organic waste. Energy, industry, transport, land and agriculture are the predominant sectors leading to green-house gas emissions thereby exercising a negative impact on climate change.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference recently convened in Baku, Azerbaijan in November offers a way forward to address the above climate crisis faced globally. It aimed to combat climate change through sustainable practices and procedures and its foremost focus was to define a new collective quantified goal on climate finance. It aimed to decide the allocation of the financial resources by different countries globally for tackling the climate change crisis. The agreement on the new collective quantified goal on climate finance is a building block for the developing countries in particular to engage in environmentally sustainable practices for the future. It is also a reinforcement of the Paris Agreement settled in 2015 aiming to allow the countries to allocate funds aligned with their needs to fight climate change.
COP 29 at Baku additionally offered a competitive edge to encourage renewable energy adoption by providing tax incentives on the renewable energy equipment such as solar panels and wind turbines. It aimed to inculcate mitigation of the use of the fossil fuels globally so as to bring the carbon emissions to a minimum level. Furthermore, it provided an understanding of the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage that focused on the operationalization of the loss and damage fund. It further ensured equitable distribution of resources to the nations impacted by climate change by establishing governance and accountability mechanisms. A need for collaboration and fairness in global climate governance efforts is built on the basis of Loss and Damage Fund.
Conference of the Parties 29 proved a positive tool for tracking the effectiveness of the climate adaptation objectives such as mitigating risk associated with climate change, enhancing awareness about impact of climate change and safeguarding the ecosystems. Adaptation indicators such as climate indices and climate risk indicators for measuring the effectiveness of the climate adaptation objectives are to be concluded in 2026 and COP at Baku has set a foundation to focus on it. It also highlights that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement remain relevant and capable of addressing contemporary climate challenges.
It senta n actionable signal to global stakeholders about the seriousness of climate commitments and built a foundation for transformative climate action leading towards net zero emissions and building resilient societies. In a nutshell, it offered meaningful progress in tackling the environmental changes by reinforcing global confidence in climate agreements.
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