Climate Change-- Audit of measures to combat Climate Change Nameeta Prasad, Director (Training and Research) iCED
Climate change • According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – “Climate change refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes that persists for an extended period, usually decades or longer”. – IPCC 2014: evidence of impacts of climate change • The UN Development Programme (UNDP) – climate change the greatest global challenge of this century, as increased exposure to droughts, floods and storms is already limiting opportunities and reinforcing inequality • Climate change is a natural process, but it is the recent rapid changes induced by human activity that have made the issue important
Impact of climate change: global perspective • Ecosystems – Approximately 20 to 30% of plant and animal species assessed so far likely to be at increased risk of extinction if increases in global average temperature exceed 1.5 to 2.5 ° C • Food – Crop productivity projected to increase slightly at mid to high latitudes for local mean temperature increases of up to 1 to 3 ° C depending on the crop, and then decrease beyond that in some regions – At lower latitudes, especially in seasonally dry and tropical regions, crop productivity is projected to decrease for even small local temperature increases (1 to 2 ° C), • increase the risk of hunger
Impact of climate change • Coasts – floods due to sea level rise • The numbers affected will be largest in the densely populated and low-lying megadeltas of Asia and Africa while small islands are especially vulnerable • Health – Increase in malnutrition – increased deaths, diseases and injury due to extreme weather events – increased burden of diarrhoeal diseases
Impact of climate change • Water – exacerbate current stresses on water resources from population growth and land-use change – Widespread mass losses from glaciers and reductions in snow cover over recent decades projected to accelerate throughout the 21st century, reducing water availability, hydropower potential, and changing seasonality of flows in regions supplied by meltwater from major mountain ranges (e.g. Hindu-Kush, Himalaya, Andes) – Changes in precipitation and temperature lead to changes in runoff and water availability
Impact of climate change • Extreme events – Altered frequencies and intensities of extreme weather, together with sea level rise, are expected to have mostly adverse effects on natural and human systems like • Warm spells/heat waves, • Heavy precipitation events • Area affected by drought increases • Intense tropical cyclone activity increases
Government response to climate change
Action to combat climate change • The terms “adaptation” and “mitigation” are two important terms that are fundamental in the climate change debate. – While mitigation tackles the causes of climate change, adaptation tackles the effects of the phenomenon. • Climate mitigation is any action taken to permanently eliminate or reduce the long-term risk and hazards of climate change to human life, property. • Climate adaptation refers to the ability of a system to adjust to climate change (including climate variability and extremes) to moderate potential damage, to take advantage of opportunities, or to cope with the consequences.
Government response through Mitigation • Mitigation in relation to climate change is – reducing Greenhouse gas emissions nationally or globally – enhancing removal by sinks which take up carbon, such as trees – remove carbon from the atmosphere in other ways. Key Issues: – Commitments and targets for reduction of emissions – Agencies involved (departments like MoEF, power, Transportation, urban development etc ) – policy instruments for meeting emission targets
Mitigation strategies Sector Key mitigation technologies and practices Key mitigation technologies and practices currently commercially available projected to be commercialized before 2030 Energy Improved supply and distribution efficiency; fuel CCS for gas, biomass and coal-fired electricity sector switching from coal to gas; nuclear power; generating facilities; advanced nuclear power; renewable heat and power (hydropower, solar, advanced renewable energy, including tidal and wind, geothermal and bioenergy); combined heat waves energy, concentrating solar and solar PV. and power; early applications of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Transport More fuel efficient vehicles; hybrid vehicles; Second generation biofuels; higher efficiency sector leaner diesel vehicles; biofuels; modal shifts from aircraft; advanced electric and hybrid vehicles road transport to rail and public transport with more powerful and reliable batteries. systems; non-motorised transport (cycling, walking); land-use and transport planning. Buildings Efficient lighting and daylighting; more efficient Integrated design of commercial buildings electrical appliances and heating and cooling including technologies, such as intelligent meters devices; improved cook stoves, improved that provide feedback and control; solar PV insulation ; passive and active solar design for integrated in buildings. heating and cooling; alternative refrigeration fluids, recovery and recycle of fluorinated gases. Industry More efficient end-use electrical equipment; heat Advanced energy efficiency; CCS for cement, and power recovery; material recycling and ammonia, and iron manufacture; inert electrodes substitution; control of non- CO2 gas emissions; for aluminium manufacture. and a wide array of process-specific technologies.
Mitigation strategies Sector Key mitigation technologies and practices Key mitigation technologies and practices currently commercially available projected to be commercialized before 2030 Agriculture Improved crop and grazing land management to Improvements of crops yields. increase soil carbon storage; restoration of cultivated peaty soils and degraded lands; improved rice cultivation techniques and livestock and manure management to reduce CH 4 emissions; improved nitrogen fertilizer application techniques to reduce N 2 O emissions; dedicated energy crops to replace fossil fuel use; improved energy efficiency. Forestry/ Afforestation; reforestation; forest management; Tree species improvement to increase biomass forests reduced deforestation; harvested wood product productivity and carbon sequestration. management; use of forestry products for Improved remote sensing technologies for bioenergy to replace fossil fuel use analysis of vegetation/ soil carbon sequestration potential and mapping land use change. Waste Landfill methane recovery; waste incineration Biocovers and biofilters to optimize CH 4 management with energy recovery; composting of organic oxidation. waste; controlled waste water treatment; recycling and waste minimization.
Government response through adaptation Climate Change adaptation refers to an adjustment of human or natural systems in response to actual or expected climate stimuli or their effects • Key Issues – Objectives and targets of adaptation policies (no public commitments) – Policy instruments for adaptation – Public players and their roles and responsibilities
Adaptation strategies • Key strategies outlined by UNFCCC – long-term strategies to strengthen response capacities and preparedness including disaster preparedness – Examples of adaptation measures include • using scarce water resources more efficiently • adapting building codes to future climate conditions and extreme weather events • building flood defences and raising the levels of dykes • developing drought-tolerant crops • choosing tree species and forestry practices less vulnerable to storms and fires • setting aside land corridors to help species migrate
Audit of governments efforts to combat climate change
Audit criteria 1. International agreements: UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol – UNFCCC is the main global response to the challenge of climate change – UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol spell out a number of commitments for Parties, and it is thus where we must start looking for audit criteria – Annex I Parties are those countries that were members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1992, and a number of countries defined as economies in transition (EITs). – Annex II Parties are a sub-group of the Annex I countries. They include the members of the OECD, but not the EITs. – Non-Annex I Parties are all other countries which are party to the UNFCCC. They also include the least developed countries and other countries especially vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change.
Audit criteria • Annex 1 and Annex 2 countries – The emission targets established by the Kyoto Protocol are binding on all Annex I Parties which have ratified the Protocol. These would have: • Mitigation commitments • Monitoring and reporting commitments for mitigation • Adaptation Commitments • Commitments on technology, funding and research • Non Annex countries: – These countries are encouraged to reduce GHG emissions, to cooperate on research and technology and to protect sinks, but are not bound by other obligations like the Annex I and II countries. • This category currently includes 153 countries including India
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