Emissions Gap Report 2023

Emissions Gap Report 2023

Important for Prelims:

Emissions Gap Report 2023, United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Global Warming, Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG), Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), Net-Zero Pledges

Important for Mains:

GS-3: Highlights of Emissions Gap Report 2023, Key Initiatives for Emission Control in India

November 23, 2023

Why in news:

Recently the 14th edition of the Emissions Gap Report was released by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

Emissions Gap Report 2023

Title:

• The report is titled “Emissions Gap Report 2023: Broken Record – Temperatures Hit New High Yet World Fails to Cut Emissions (Again)”.

Objective:

• The purpose of releasing this report: to take urgent climate action to avoid dangerous temperature rise.
• This report provides awareness to climate scientists and organizations around the world about possible solutions to the future challenge related to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming.

key points:

• According to this report, despite the Paris Agreement, developed and developing countries around the world are moving the world towards increasing the temperature by 2.5-2.9 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of this century.
• Paris Agreement:
  • This agreement was adopted in the year 2015 during the COP 21 conference to address climate change and its negative impacts.
  • It is a landmark environmental agreement that requires emissions to be cut by 28-42% by 2030 to limit temperature rise to 1.5-2 degrees Celsius.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions:

• A new record of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of 57.4 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) was reached in the year 2022, which is 1.2% more than the previous year.
• Fossil CO2 emissions with a 100-year global warming potential are about two-thirds of current GHG emissions.
• According to the data, fossil CO2 emissions increased between 0.8-1.5% in the year 2022 which was the main contributor to the overall increase of GHG emissions.
• Emissions of fluorinated gases increased by 5.5% in the year 2022, followed by methane by 1.8% and nitrous oxide (N2O) by 0.9%.
• Currently, G20 countries collectively account for 76% of global emissions.
• In the year 2022, GHG emissions of G20 countries increase by 1.2%.
  • Carbon emissions have increased by China, India, Indonesia and the United States, while emissions have relatively decreased in Brazil, the European Union and the Russian Federation.

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GHG emission sectors:

• Five major economic sectors contribute to emissions including: energy supply, industry, agriculture and land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF), transportation and buildings.

           Economic sector                    Percentage of emissions by in the year 2022

                 Energy supply:                    36% of total (largest source of emissions)

                  Industry:                              25%

                Agriculture and LULUCF:     18%

               Transportation:                       14%

                Building:                                 6.7%

Concerns:

• Global warming is expected to reach 3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century.
• Despite developed and developing countries implementing net-zero emission limits, not meeting their emissions reduction targets is a major concern.
• The probability of limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C under the current emissions scenario is only 14%.

About the Emissions Gap Report:

• The Emissions Gap Report is a spotlight report launched each year ahead of UNEP's annual climate summit.
• This report annually tracks the gap between global emissions and the level required to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Major initiatives for emission control in India:

• National Solar Mission
• PM Kisan Energy Security and Upliftment Campaign (PM-KUSUM)
• National Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy
• National Offshore Wind Energy Policy
• National Hydropower Policy
• National Hydrogen Energy Mission
• National Green Hydrogen Mission
• Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV) to Bharat Stage-VI (BS-VI) Emission Norms
• Ujala scheme
• International Solar Alliance
• National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC)
• Ethanol blending in India by 2025
• India updates its NDC

Way forward:

• The emissions gap narrowed by policy efforts and specific action plans since the Paris Agreement is not sufficient to deal with the current situation.
• Nine countries around the world have updated their NDC programs, potentially reducing emissions by about 9% annually by 2030.
• However, further reductions are necessary to minimize the costs to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
• Implementing an unconditional Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) could limit emissions growth to 2.9°C and a conditional NDC to limit it to 2.5°C.
• High emitting countries should provide financial and technical assistance to developing countries for ecological relief so that their sustainable development is not affected.
• In future, there will be a need to develop new technology to remove carbon dioxide.
• Looking to the future, all countries need to break out of the framework of inadequate action and set new records on emissions, green and equitable transition and climate finance.

Source: Indian Express

Mains Exam Question

In the light of Emission Gap Report, mention the major initiatives of India to control the emission levels.