2019 – Posted in: Daily News

SOLVE THE GLOBAL PROBLEM OF CLIMATE CHANGE

For: Preliminary & Mains

Topics covered: Suggestions on the global problems of climate change

News Flash

During the COP-21 in 2015, each country decided the level and kind of effort it would undertake to solve the global problem of climate change.

These actions were later referred to as nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

India’s efforts

Many plans and programs were intended to enable India to move to a climate-friendly sustainable development pathway.

(i) Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, or mitigation

(ii) Actions to adapt to living in a warmer world, or adaptation

(iii) Additional carbon sink- a means to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

(iv) Trees and other vegetation fix carbon

Enhancing Green cover

The additional increase in carbon sinks, as recommended in this report, is to be achieved by the following ways:

Restoring impaired and open forests;
afforesting wastelands;
agro-forestry;
through green corridors, plantations along railways, canals, other roads, on railway sidings and rivers;
via urban green spaces.

India has yet to determine how its carbon sink objectives can be met.

The Forest Survey of India study has three scenarios, representing different levels of increase in forest and tree cover.
For example, 50%, 60% or 70% of impaired forests could be restored.
The total increase in the carbon sink in these scenarios could be 1.63, 2.51 or 3.39 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030.

Natural forests

Locking up the carbon from the atmosphere in trees, ground vegetation and soils is one of the safest ways with which to remove carbon.
If done correctly, the green cover increase will provide many other benefits:

it will improve water quality,
store water in wetlands,
prevent soil erosion,
protect biodiversity,
potentially provide new jobs.

It is estimated that allowing land to be converted into forests naturally will sequester 42 times the carbon compared to land converted to the plantation, or six times for land converted to agroforestry.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

UNFCCC is an international environmental treaty negotiated at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992.

The UNFCCC objective is to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”.

The framework sets non-binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions for individual countries and contains no enforcement mechanisms.

Source: The Hindu

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