1. Lives matter: India is sending wheat to Afghanistan to save its nationals from starvation deaths READ MORE
2. Happiness is a State of Mind READ MORE

1. Ominous shadow of climate change READ MORE
2. Over the Indian Ocean, Global Warming Is Brewing Changes to India’s Rainfall READ MORE

1. Covid-19: Prioritise gender-responsive recovery READ MORE
2. Hijab controversy: Time to reflect READ MORE

1. Democracies on the slide READ MORE
2. In conflict, a ‘settings change’ for social media READ MORE
3. Go beyond the quota rhetoric READ MORE
4. Power and responsibility: Judges’ indiscretion can erode public faith in judiciary READ MORE
5. Should India Reform its System of Imposing Fines for Offences? READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. North Korea confirms tests on reconnaissance satellite READ MORE
2. FATF retains Pakistan on its terror funding ‘grey list’ READ MORE
3. IMF Warns Of Serious Global Economic Consequences From Russian Invasion Of Ukraine READ MORE
4. Explained: What are humanitarian corridors READ MORE
5. Locally made trainer aircraft finishes sea trials READ MORE
6. MoS IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar to attend India Global Forum event on Mar 7-8 READ MORE
7. India, Canada set for FTA talks on Fri READ MORE
8. ‘Cyber Armageddon’ in Europe: Thousands go offline following Russia-Ukraine war, says report READ MORE

Main Exam 

GS Paper- 1

1. Covid-19: Prioritise gender-responsive recovery READ MORE
2. Hijab controversy: Time to reflect READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Democracies on the slide READ MORE
2. In conflict, a ‘settings change’ for social media READ MORE
3. Go beyond the quota rhetoric READ MORE
4. Power and responsibility: Judges’ indiscretion can erode public faith in judiciary READ MORE
5. Should India Reform its System of Imposing Fines for Offences? READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Care informed by data: India must pursue schemes for rehabilitation of children orphaned by the pandemic READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Quadrilateral queasiness: On India’s stance in Russia-Ukraine crisis READ MORE
2. Foreign policy at T-junction: Quad now a platform to coordinate responses to the Ukraine crisis READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. How to handle impact of Ukrainian crisis on India’s energy sector READ MORE  
2. Economic weakness is a pan-India phenomenon READ MORE
3. RBI must start focusing on inflation control READ MORE
4. Bolstering India’s gig economy READ MORE
5. Eight charts to help understand the impact of sanctions on the Russian economy – and India READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY  

1. Ominous shadow of climate change READ MORE
2. Over the Indian Ocean, Global Warming Is Brewing Changes to India’s Rainfall READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Lives matter: India is sending wheat to Afghanistan to save its nationals from starvation deaths READ MORE
2. Happiness is a State of Mind READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. The gig economy can employ skilled or non-skilled professionals which could be helpful to diminish the level of unemployment. Discuss the statement.
2. Discuss the reasons behind the erratic rainfall patterns. How it is impacts the various sector of the economy?

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• An objective truth and individual reason are feared above all.
• A clear protocol that governs such platforms is a must given their intersection with global public life in critical situations.
• India cannot be forced to pick a side in the conflict, but Russia could test its resolve.
• The Quad cannot afford to alienate India, a critical partner in the global-strategic plan to balance the rise of China as a potential Asian hegemon.
• The vast majority of Indian homes not counted as SC/ST/OBC are found to earn less than our EWS income cap. This speaks of huge disparities and poses quota-policy perplexities.
• With the Ukraine war adding to global inflationary pressures, going ahead RBI’s accommodative stance may no longer be tenable. Power comes with responsibility. It’s more true of judicial powers.
• Such misuse of powers by judges in utter disregard for well-established constitutional principles designed to check arbitrariness and indiscretion has the potential to erode public faith in the judiciary.
• Time has come to review India’s association with Quad. This dalliance has not brought India any dividends.
• The argument that technological progress can reduce greenhouse gases’ polluting potential to a level that does not matter, does not hold.
• Gig economy can employ skilled or non-skilled professionals which could be helpful to diminish the level of unemployment.

50-WORD TALK

• The Centre must intervene. Covid vaccines, we believed, worked. Now there’s official data to prove it: 92 per cent of Indians who succumbed to coronavirus this year were unvaccinated. Most of the rest had comorbidities. One more reason, if it is needed, to trust science and make the third dose accessible to more people.
• Andhra Pradesh High Court’s direction to Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government to develop Amaravati as the capital is sensible. His three-capital idea was imprudent, logistically and financially. A debt-ridden state can’t afford such a waste of resources. HC has given a face-saver to Reddy. He must abandon the ill-conceived three-capital plan.

Things to Remember:

• For prelims-related news try to understand the context of the news and relate with its concepts so that it will be easier for you to answer (or eliminate) from given options.
• Whenever any international place will be in news, you should do map work (marking those areas in maps and also exploring other geographical locations nearby including mountains, rivers, etc. same applies to the national places.)
• For economy-related news (banking, agriculture, etc.) you should focus on terms and how these are related to various economic aspects, for example, if inflation has been mentioned, try to relate with prevailing price rises, shortage of essential supplies, banking rates, etc.
• For main exam-related topics, you should focus on the various dimensions of the given topic, the most important topics which occur frequently and are important from the mains point of view will be covered in ED.
• Try to use the given content in your answer. Regular use of this content will bring more enrichment to your writing.

[WpProQuiz 173]

THE CONTEXT: December 12 marked the six-year anniversary of the Paris Agreement. The international community, including the European Union (EU) and India, gathered at the Climate Ambition Summit 2020 to celebrate and recognize our resolve in working towards a safer, more resilient world with net-zero emissions.

ABOUT PARIS AGREEMENT

• The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016.
• Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
• To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate-neutral world by mid-century.
• The Paris Agreement is a landmark in the multilateral climate change process because, for the first time, a binding agreement brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.

IMPLEMENTATION OF PARIS AGREEMENT

Implementation of the Paris Agreement requires economic and social transformation, based on the best available science. The Paris Agreement works on a 5- year cycle of increasingly ambitious climate action carried out by countries. By 2020, countries submit their plans for climate action known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs):

• In their NDCs, countries communicate actions they will take to reduce their Greenhouse Gas emissions in order to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement. Countries also communicate in the NDCs actions they will take to build resilience to adapt to the impacts of rising temperatures.

Long-Term Strategies: 

• To better frame the efforts towards the long-term goal, the Paris Agreement invites countries to formulate and submit by 2020 long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies (LT-LEDs).
• LT-LEDs provide the long-term horizon to the NDCs. Unlike NDCs, they are not mandatory. Nevertheless, they place the NDCs into the context of countries’ long-term planning and development priorities, providing a vision and direction for future development.

Is the Paris agreement binding?

• The legal nature of the deal–whether it will be binding–had been a hotly debated topic in the lead-up to the negotiations. The agreement walks a fine line, binding in some elements like reporting requirements while leaving other aspects of the deal—such as the setting of emissions targets for any individual country—as non-binding.

Difference between Paris Climate and Kyoto Protocol:

• The Kyoto Protocol had a differentiation between developed and developing countries listed as Annex 1 countries and non-Annex 1 countries But, in the Paris agreement, there is no difference between developing and developed countries.
• The Kyoto Protocol aimed at 6 major greenhouse gases but the Paris Agreement is focused on reducing all anthropogenic greenhouse gases causing climate change.

Talanoa dialogue

• The UNFCCC Climate Change Conference (COP23) was held in Bonn, Germany, and was presided over by the Government of Fiji. It concluded with countries putting in place a roadmap for ‘Talanoa Dialogue’, a year-long process to assess countries’ progress on climate actions.

What is Talanoa?

• Talanoa is a traditional approach used in Fiji and the Pacific to engage in an inclusive, participatory, and transparent dialogue;
• The purpose of Talanoa is to share stories, build empathy and trust;
• During the process, participants advance their knowledge through common understanding;
• It creates a platform of dialogue, which results in better decision-making for the collective good;
• By focusing on the benefits of collective action, this process will inform decision-making and move the global climate agenda forward.

The significance of Talanoa dialogue

• The goal of the Paris Agreement on climate change, as agreed at the Conference of the Parties in 2015, is to keep global temperature rise this century to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. It also calls for efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The Under2 Coalition

• The Under2 Coalition is a coalition of subnational governments that aims to achieve greenhouse gases emissions mitigation. It started as a memorandum of understanding, which was signed by twelve founding jurisdictions on May 19, 2015, in Sacramento, California. Although it was originally called the Under2 MOU, it became known as the Under2 Coalition in 2017.
• As of September 2018, the list of signatories has grown to over 220 jurisdictions which combined encompasses over 3 billion people and 43% of the world economy.
• The intent of the memorandum signatories is for each to achieve Greenhouse gas emission reductions consistent with a trajectory of 80 to 95 percent below 1990 levels by 2050and/or achieving a per capita annual emission goal of less than 2 metric tons by 2050.
• Currently, Telangana and Chhattisgarh are signatories to this pact from India, as compared to representations from the other top emitters: 26 subnational governments in China and 24 in the U.S. Greater representation of Indian States is crucial.

FRAMEWORK OF PARIS AGREEMENT

The Paris Agreement provides a framework for financial, technical, and capacity-building support to those countries who need it.

Finance

The Paris Agreement reaffirms that developed countries should take the lead in providing financial assistance to countries that are less endowed and more vulnerable, while for the first time also encouraging voluntary contributions by other Parties. Climate finance is needed for mitigation because large-scale investments are required to significantly reduce emissions. Climate finance is equally important for adaptation, as significant financial resources are needed to adapt to the adverse effects and reduce the impacts of a changing climate.

Technology

The Paris Agreement speaks of the vision of fully realizing technology development and transfer for both improving resilience to climate change and reducing GHG emissions. It establishes a technology framework to provide overarching guidance to the well-functioning Technology Mechanism. The mechanism is accelerating technology development and transfer through its policy and implementation arms.

Capacity-Building

Not all developing countries have sufficient capacities to deal with many of the challenges brought by climate change. As a result, the Paris Agreement places great emphasis on climate-related capacity-building for developing countries and requests all developed countries to enhance support for capacity-building actions in developing countries.

ENHANCED TRANSPARENCY FRAMEWORK (ETF)

• With the Paris Agreement, countries established an enhanced transparency framework (ETF). Under ETF, starting in 2024, countries will report transparently on actions taken and progress in climate change mitigation, adaptation measures, and support provided or received. It also provides international procedures for the review of the submitted reports.
• The information gathered through the ETF will feed into the Global stocktake which will assess the collective progress towards the long-term climate goals.
• This will lead to recommendations for countries to set more ambitious plans in the next round.

INDIA AND PARIS AGREEMENT

India has not only achieved its targets but has exceeded them beyond expectations as per the Prime Minister. He delivered a virtual speech at the Climate Ambition Summit that India has reduced its global emissions by 21 percent compared to 2005 and is on its way to doing more.

• India mentioned that it has not caused the climate change crisis and it is meeting its obligations under the Paris Climate Accord.
• It stated that the developed nations have been the highest carbon emitters and thus, were responsible for global warming.
• It mentioned that besides India, only Bhutan, the Philippines, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Morocco, and the Gambia were complying with the accord.

India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC)

• To reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 percent by 2030 from the 2005 level.
• To create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.
• A total of 40% of the installed capacity for electricity will be from non-fossil fuel sources.

India’s effort to address Climate Change

The Government of India has launched eight Missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) for assessment of the impact and actions required to address climate change. These eight missions are:

1. National Solar Mission
2. National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency
3. National Mission on Sustainable Habitat
4. National Water Mission
5. National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem
6. National Mission for A Green India
7. National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture
8. National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change

Recent developments

• India has achieved a reduction of 21% in emission intensity of its GDP between 2005 and 2014, which fulfills its pre-2020 voluntary target.
• The Renewable energy installed capacity has increased by 226% in the last 5 years and stands more than 87 GW.
• The Government has provided 80 million LPG connections in rural areas, providing them with clean cooking fuel and a healthy environment.
• More than 360 million LED bulbs have been distributed under the UJALA scheme, which has led to energy savings of about 47 billion units of electricity per year and a reduction of 38 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
• It leapfrogged from Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV) to Bharat Stage-VI (BS-VI) emission norms by April 1, 2020, which was earlier to be adopted by 2024.

SIX YEARS AFTER PARIS AGREEMENT

All states have submitted their national contributions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Distant hypothetical targets are being set. Seems like we are still speeding in the wrong direction or we are lagging far behind.

(1) Unclear targets and response

The world is still unclear for six years as to how the net-zero pledges will translate into shorter-term targets. Few of the countries that have announced ambitious long-term goals have implemented national policies to reach them in time.

(2) Degradation isn’t stopped

Meanwhile, we continue to destroy the world’s carbon sinks, by cutting down forests – the world is still losing an area of forest the size of the UK each year, despite commitments to stop deforestation – as well as drying out peatlands and wetlands, and reducing the ocean’s capacity to absorb carbon from the air.

(3) Countries aren’t scaling up their targets

Although 151 states have indicated that they will submit stronger targets before December 31, only 13 of them, covering 2.4 percent of global emissions, have submitted such targets. While states have been slow to update their national contributions for 2025-2030, several have announced exaggeratedly high “net zero” targets in the recent past.

WAY FORWARD:

• The Paris agreement still provides the best hope of avoiding the worst ravages of climate breakdown: the question is whether countries are prepared to back it up with action, rather than more hot air.
• Renewing the shorter-term commitments is the best way ahead.
• Making promises for the 2050s-60s is one thing, but major policy changes are needed now to shift national economies onto a low-carbon footing.
• None of these (net zero) targets will be meaningful without very aggressive action in this decade. A diplomacy is inevitably a tool in global climate action.

CONCLUSION:

For many, there is a mismatch between short-term actions and long-term commitments. A credible short-term commitment with a clear pathway is the key. Not all states will be in a position to pledge net-zero targets, nor should they be expected to. All states, including India, can, however, pledge actions that are credible, accountable and fair. Our real test on climate change is on building a new domestic consensus that can address the economic and political costs associated with an internal adjustment to the prospect of a great global reset.