COP 22 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) was held in Marrakesh, Morocco. About 200 nations attended the conference and adopted the Marrakesh Action Proclamation for Our Climate and Sustainable Development.
Why Marrakesh Action Plan is important?
Marrakesh’s Action Plan is crucial because;
- It reaffirm the Paris treaty of 2015. More than 200 nation participation depicts a seriousness of the issue of climate change.
- It ensures the meeting of SDGs by eradicating poverty, hunger and malnutrition by 2030, which is possible with sustainable environment.
- It ensures transfer of funds and technology from developed to developing country.
- It pushes the Kyoto Protocol signatory nation to ratify the Doha Amendments.
- It provided a platform for India to exhibit the International Solar Alliance and creating a massive change in the world regarding renewable energy.
- It acknowledges the principle of Common but differentiated responsibility.
- It invites various climate vulnerable nations like Bangladesh, Island nations etc. to push the limit of 1.5℃ of pre-industrial level by 2100.
- Interesting to see reaction of new USA(largest emitters) government step.
What is India’s response to Marrakesh Action Plan?
Welcoming the Marrakech Action Proclamation, India said that most of its demands including the issue of providing finance to developing nations to tackle climate change has been incorporated and it will continue to push its agenda as per the Paris agreement. India had pushed for inclusion of sustainable lifestyle with minimum carbon footprint and a clear cut mention of flow of funds in the draft of the political proclamation which was earlier made.
The proclamation also said that nations who are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, encourage the ratification of the Doha Amendment. This point in the proclamation assumes significance especially as India had asked the developed countries to ratify the Doha amendments to the Kyoto Protocol by April next year to raise the ambition of climate actions in the pre-2020 period.
Why is Marrakesh Conference considered important?
- It provided an opportunity to communicate concerns about the future climate policy of the U.S.
- It would be untenable for the U.S., with a quarter of all cumulative fossil fuel emissions, to renege on its promise to assist vulnerable and developing nations with climate funding, technology transfer and capacity- building under Donald Trump’s presidency.
What are significant takeaways from this conference?
- Negotiators had to set in motion processes to operationalise the Paris treaty. Countries agreed to a 2018 deadline for framing rules to operationalise the Paris pact. If things go according to plan, the new climate treaty could come into effect much before the 2020 deadline set in Paris.
- Marrakesh had another mandate: To ensure developed countries honour the commitments they had made before the Paris CoP. The money pledged at Marrakesh —about 150 million dollars — is a drop in the ocean given that at the CoPs in 2009 and 2010, rich countries had committed to jointly raise 100 billion dollars a year by 2020. But the developing countries had a minor victory when they were able to insert a clause, in the final decisions, asking for a scaling up of financial resources beyond $ 100 billion dollars, per year, after 2020.