Climate Change Remains Hot Topic at G20

With India at the helm of the #G20 in 2023, India has the opportunity to take the lead on the #ClimateChange issue. To that effect, India has put forward of initiatives to support Climate Action as follows:

• Interntional Solar Alliance (ISA)
• Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (#CDRI)
• National Green Hydrogen Mission

The G20 makes up 2/3 of the world population, 75% of global trade and 85% of global GDP. The G20 is collectively responsible for 80% of the cumulative Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions. Progress toward NetZero has been slow and arduous: current commitments will only reduce emissions by 10% by 2030, well short of what is necessary to constrain global warming under the stated goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

So far, India has hosted 4 sessions of the Working Group for Environment and Climate Sustainability since the beginning of 2023.

For 2022, the estimated GHG emissions is about 58 gigatonnes (GT). However, to keep Global Warming under 1.5C, the world must cut down emissions by at least 3 GT annually for the next three decades.

Several countries have called for the Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (#CBDRRC) when it comes to the fight against #ClimateChange. Thus, the current stage of development and actual situation of a particular country must be taken into account when setting its Nationally Determined Contributions (#NDC) and other targets.

At #COP27 in Egypt in 2022, the setting up of the Loss and Damage Fund (LDF) was deemed as a major breakthrough. However, the operationalization of the LDF is still in at the start of the learning curve with rules and criteria still to be hashed out. Thus, coal-rich countries such as China, South Africa and Indonesia are reluctant to abandon coal immediately. Similarly, Small Island Developing States (#SIDS) are under threat to be submerged by the rising ocean but have limited resources and capabilities to fight this negative of Climate Change on their own.

Nevertheless, there appears to be some momentum for #GoodGovernance to adopt #ESG frameworks. In the last four years, global asset value aligned with #ESG has more than doubled to exceed USD 40 trillion.