Context: Recently, the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change attended the 11th Petersberg Climate Dialogue.The dialogue was held virtually for the first time in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

• It has been hosted by Germany since 2010 to provide a forum for informal high-level political discussions, focusing both on international climate negotiations and the advancement of climate action.
• The dialogue saw participation from Ministers and representatives of about 30 countries.
• The virtual XI Petersberg Climate Dialogue was co-chaired by Germany and the United Kingdom (UK) and was attended by about 30 countries including India.
• The UK is the incoming Presidency of the 26th Conference of Parties (COP 26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).?

About Petersberg Climate Dialogue

• The Petersberg Climate Dialogue is a series of annual international conferences at ministerial level that serve as a catalyst for the preparation of the annual UN climate conferences.
• The informal round tables of representatives of selected countries serve to explore possible alliances.
• The dialogue was launched after the failed climate summit in Copenhagen in 2009 on the initiative of Germany in order to revitalize the climate protection process.
• Since the first climate dialogue on the Petersberg near Bonn, the designation was retained for the following conferences, although they have been held in Berlin since then.
• The conferences has been held jointly by Germany and the host country of the upcoming climate conference.
• This year’s dialogue was crucial because of the efforts to contain coronavirus as well as countries preparing to move into the implementation phase of the Paris Agreement 2015 in the post-2020 period.

India’s Contributions in the Dialogue

• India expressed solidarity with the world as it combats the Covid-19 pandemic and emphasised on adopting more sustainable consumption patterns in line with the requirement of sustainable lifestyles.
• India suggested having climate technology as an open source available to all countries at affordable prices.
• India stressed on climate finance and urged to plan for 1 trillion USD in grants to the developing world immediately.
• India highlighted its Nationally Determined Contributions spanning a ten-year time frame and in compliance with the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.
• India focused on the opportunity to accelerate renewable energy deployment and create new green jobs in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector.

About Paris Agreement – COP 21

• Paris Agreement replaced earlier agreement to deal with climate change, Kyoto Protocol.?
• It is a multilateral agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); signed to reduce, mitigate greenhouse-gas-emissions.
• Currently, 195 UNFCCC members have signed it. However, US President has announced his intention to withdraw from the agreement by November 2020.

The goal of the Paris Agreement

• To curtail the rise of global temperature this century below 2-degree Celsius, above pre-industrial levels; and also pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degree celsius.
• Develop mechanisms to help and support countries that are very vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change. An example would be countries like the Maldives facing threat due to sea-level rise.
• Confirms the obligation that developed countries have towards developing countries, by providing them financial and technological support.

The agreement talks about 20/20/20 targets, i.e.

• Carbon Dioxide emissions reductions by 20%,
• Work on increasing the renewable energy market share by 20%
• Target to increase energy efficiency by 20%

About Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC)

• It means the contributions that need to be done by each individual countries to achieve the overall global goal.
• The contributions need to be reported every 5 years to UNFCCC.
• The contributions are not legally binding.
• The goal is to make sure that all countries have access to technical expertise and financial capability to meet the climate challenges.

The major difference between the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement

• In Paris agreement, there is no difference between developing and developed countries. In the Kyoto Protocol, there was a differentiation between developed and developing countries by clubbing them as Annex 1 countries and non – Annex 1 countries.
• As per Paris agreement, Parties have the right to include the reduction of emissions in any other country as their NDC, as per the system of carbon trading and accounting.