@KanitkarT@vnamas@3rdworldnetwork@JMauskar DECODING THE BS ON CARBON NEUTRALITY :
Paris Agreement (PA) calls for global emissions and removals of GHGs to be balanced by mid-century. Does NOT ask for individual countries to do so.
Only equitable basis to this goal -- Developed countries reach zero emissions or at least carbon neutrality even EARLIER than mid-century. Developing countries can have time, individually depending on their national circumstances, until later, even much later than mid-century.
Developed countries declaring carbon neutrality by 2050 means they will continue to maximise their appropriation of the global carbon budget as much as possible. Before the faint-hearted swoon at mention of the B word, this simply means emitting as long and as much as they can
Actually they want to postpone tough climate action even more -- Hence sudden popularity of "negative" emissions in modelling and the "oh so important" Article 6 (carbon trading) negotiations. And covering up long term dependence on oil and gas.
BTW, they also want to cheat on KP-era CDM credits, and not pay up. Sudden popularity of "nature based solutions", "farming systems approach", etc. Academia collaborates globally by framing scientific questions without differentiation. The plea is "climate emergency"
China cleverly hoists the developed countries on their own slogans. Hence they first accepted peaking year (given their huge current/recent emissions) and now even carbon neutrality, while maximising cumulative emissions. What should India do?
Excellent, robust option for India is to declare our right to a fair share of the global carbon budget for a 2 deg warming with 50% avoidance probability. Faint-hearted please note, this is again a statement of how long and how much we will need the use of fossil fuels.
No statement of peaking year, no carbon neutrality date. They will happen when they happen. Believe me, if we insist, the geeks will go back and redo their models. Or, they may not. No model was redone when US refused to ratify the PA, and then marched out.
This is not the scenic route to global cooperation. But definitely more realistic, given the mood in the West that mocks at principles and values as "looking for the boat that has sailed." The message can be delivered softly and explained - but it must be delivered.
Yes, we must take care of our people. But thats our problem, always has been. As they say in air travel, put on your mask before you help others. Same story -- if we don't lift our people up, we cant save the world either.
HOW "BEST AVAILABLE SCIENCE" MAKES IT ALONGSIDE YOUR MORNING COFFEE AS NEW CLIMATE POLICY..
A classic example of how climate-scenarios-based "science" leads to so-called "policy analysis" that feeds the global North narrative.
At lightning speed by 16th August @CarbonBrief has a comment out on a paper that has just been published on 12th August (see here for paper ).nature.com/articles/s4155…
Unsurprisingly this is from Nature Climate Change (NCC), and open access. The first means that the NCC editorial desk (the gatekeepers) has to accept the paper, before peer review even begins -- a favour certainly not given to all. Second a hefty open access fee has been paid -- £8890.00/$12290.00/€10290.00.
The article itself is written by very "influential" authors, representative of the mitigation scenarios community. It is unlikely that the NCC gatekeeper would turn it down. The paper clearly made it to print quite fast -- submitted 28 Feb. 2024, accepted 20 June, in print 12 Aug.
@CSEINDIA makes a surprising turn towards cheer-leading for carbon markets in India, moving away from its well-known stance of caution on market-driven approaches. Here is a quick deconstruction of the most problematic aspects of this new turn....
Based on the report: .40552200_1723533649_the-indian-carbon-market-pathway-towards-an-effective-mechanism-report.pdf
and a press statement: 1/nhttp___cdn.cseindia.org cseindia.org/cse-recommends…
Key recommendations and their issues: 1. Moving from the "perform, achieve, trade" (PAT) mode to "Indian carbon market" mode in hard-to-abate sectors.This has been mentioned in FM's budget speech 2024. But the CSE Report calls for a wholesale shift with "large coverage of emissions" (not merely hard-to-abate sectors) and basically a discontinuation of the PAT scheme. 2/n
The tricky part is how to move to emissions per production unit (or unit of production) accounting while not undermining India's NDC. India's NDC is not on an emissions reduction basis but only an emissions intensity basis. The CSE report while praising the virtues of emissions accounting pays no heed to what is the equitable level of emissions reduction that is to be targeted in these sectors that is aligned with India's NDC. 3/n
Spoke about inequitable IPCC AR6 scenarios and our alternate framework for equitable futures in Delhi today. Curious reactions. Immediate pushback from a CSO/MI personality in the room pooh poohing the framework as not fitting the "real world" of negotiations.
Also dismissive of a distinguished African guest's impassioned plea to refocus on equity, development and well being of the populations of the global South.
Another person changed tack to arguing that it was India's (and presumably other global South countries) fault that the issue of equity could not be emphasized in the negotiations. Not a word about the fact that the e-word is anathema for the global North!!
The climate crisis just got incredibly worse!! The leading superpower, that refuses to acknowledge its historical responsibility for global warming, refuses to accept binding emission reduction targets has just undone whatever little it has been doing so far!! nytimes.com/2024/06/28/us/…
Let us see who will have the honesty to tell the superpower, when their spokespersons mouth the words "keeping 1.5 deg within reach", will bluntly tell them to cease their hypocrisy.
It is an article of faith for the US in promoting the Paris Agreement that it will be able to implement its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by administrative actions and incentives to its businesses - meaning the massive trans-national corporations that dominate their economic life.
Three key reasons for such rejection: This criterion of success i) demands that no new "substantial" emissions take place in adaptation, ii) does not recognize any differentiation between developed and developing countries and iii) flies in the face of socio-economic realities.
Let us deconstruct this method of "gauging the success" of adaptation by examining this figure from the authors of this method.
Congratulations to @JimSkeaIPCC on his election as Chair of @IPCC_CH. At COP27, @mssrf and @NIAS_India were privileged to have him on our panel discussion at the India Pavilion on Climate Equity, Carbon Budgets and IPCC AR6 Scenarios. @moefcc @byadavbjp @JRBhatt60 @KanitkarT
My colleague @KanitkarT and I appreciated @JimSkeaIPCC willingness to listen and engage, though there was considerable distance between our views. We are encouraged by his post-election remarks, though the journey to achieving it will be a testing one in practice.
Congratulations too to the full Bureau elected to lead the IPCC through Seventh Assessment Cycle. . Includes good friend Prof. Raman Sukumar as Working Group II Vice-Chair and several others in the Bureau that we are privileged to know.ipcc.ch/2023/07/28/ipc…