Analyse how far the 'Katowice Climate Package' goes in achieving the objectives of the Paris Climate

Analyse how far the 'Katowice Climate Package' goes in achieving the objectives of the Paris Climate

agreement amid the concerns of developing countries like India.

Approach:

 Elaborate the provisions in Katowice Climate Package that show the plans to operationalise the

climate change regime contained in the Paris Agreement. Mentions the concerns of developing countries and otherwise as well.

 Present a future course of action vis-à-vis these concerns.

Answer:

The Paris Agreement aims to keep a global average temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees

Celsius and to drive efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius above

pre-industrial levels. In view of this, nearly 200 countries agreed to a set of guidelines to implement the

2015 Paris Agreement on climate change at the 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP

24) in Katowice, Poland.

The rules achieve the objective of Paris agreement in following ways:

 Instil discipline regarding INDCs: The Enhanced transparency framework (ETF) will be

operationalised to monitor, verify and report actions taken as per the NDCs of countries. It will

ensure stocktaking of progress on the Paris Agreement.

 Obligation for developed countries: The Paris Agreement contained a general obligation for

developed countries to report biennially on their provision and mobilisation of climate finance. The

rules identify 15 specific pieces of information that states should submit including “projected levels

of public financial resources to be provided to developing countries”.

 Infuse accountability and compliance: The rules permit a compliance committee to consider cases

where countries have breached binding procedural obligations. Thus, if a state does not submit a

contribution every five years or a developed country does not submit its report on provision of

finance, the committee will step in.

However, there are concerns amid the developing countries such as India regarding some developments

at COP24:

 Substantial rollback of differentiation between the global North and South in climate action: Even

though it started with Paris Agreement through voluntary commitments for all, COP 24 went further,

with uniform standards of reporting, monitoring and evaluation for all countries. While flexibility in

reporting requirements are given to all developing nations, the concession has been hedged in with

a number of conditions, with the intention of forcing them to full compliance.

 Issue of climate financing: The developing world argues that the bulk of climate finance must be

from public sources. However, as the “rulebook” stands today, private sector flows or loans, which

will increase the indebtedness of developing countries, are to be considered adequate fulfilment of

developed country obligations under the UNFCCC.

 Disregard of equity: Funds for finance, better terms for new technologies to be transferred to

developing and vulnerable countries, and economic and non-economic support for loss and damage

and their equitable moorings in the text have been eliminated, minimised or footnoted.

 Postponed certain key issues: The details on funding, building capacity and work on decisions on

market mechanisms will be continued at the upcoming negotiations i.e. at COP 25 in Chile. The final

text of the agreement also lacks specific 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

Addressing these concerns is of paramount importance for a successful climate change regime.

Therefore, COP 25 in Chile must include an outcome resolving these issues and building a future which is

ecologically sustainable, economically viable and socially equitable.

Climate