International environmental agreements

1. International Environmental
Agreements
Presentation by:
Dr. Gazala Habib
Room 303, Block IV
Department of Civil Engineering
IIT Delhi
(4th November, 2016)

2. Vital alarming statistics !!
2
• Sea level rise: 3.41 mm/year
• Global average CO2: September 2016 atmospheric CO2 average
~ 404.42 ppm {First time in history >400ppm CO2 for >1 year
(2015-2016)}.
• Global Temperature: 1.7 ºF since year1880.
• Arctic summer sea ice: Shrunk to lowest extent on record.
(13.3% per decade recently !!).
• Greenland ice loss: Doubled between 1996 and 2005 (around
281 gigatonnes per year).
Source: http://climate.nasa.gov/

3. Atmospheric CO2 Levels: Historical Perspective
Source: NOAA, 2016
Mauna Loa:
Hawaii Islands
Vostok & Law Dome:
Antartica

4. Atmospheric CO2 Levels: Recent data
Source: NOAA, 2016

5. Source: NASA, 2015

6. Global Sea Level Rise
Source: NASA, 2015

7. Important Terms
• Pre-industrial time: Refers to period before year 1750.
• Green House Gases (GHGs): Water vapor (H2O), CO2,
methane (CH4), Nitrous oxide (N2O), Ozone (O3),
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
• Signatory: A party (country) that sign a legally binding
document at any treaty, convention, conference, etc.
• Ratification: Official adoption of any treaty, agreement, etc.
signed by a party (country) by its parliament/law making
body by voting and securing a majority.

8. Climate Change: Definitions
Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC):
“A change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g., by using
statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties,
and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. Climate
change may be due to natural internal processes or external forcing, or to
persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in
land use”
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC):
“A change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human
activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in
addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods”.

9. Various Environmental Organizations
9
INTER-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS:
•United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
•IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) [1988]
•World Bank
•International Energy Agency (IEA)
•Earth System Governance Project [2009]
•Global Environment Facility [1991]
GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION:
•Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change.
•Central/State Pollution Control Boards/Agencies.
NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION (NGO) :
•International (e.g. Green Peace, WWF)
•Country Specific (e.g. CSE)

10. UN CONFERENCES
&
PROTOCOLS
ON
ENVIRONMENT,
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT , CLIMATE
CHANGE

11. 11
UN Conference on Human Environment, Stockholm (1972)
(Effect of Environmental degradation on Quality of Human Life)
Vienna Convention (1985)
(Protection of Ozone Layer)
Montreal Protocol (1989)
(Total Elimination of Ozone Depleting Substances)
Basal Convention (1989)
(Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous waste)
Geneva Convention (1990)
(Technology and financial help to Developing Countries)
UN Convention on Climate Change, New York (1992)
Economic Development and Environmental Protection
Bio-diversity Convention, Nairobi (1992)
(Preservation of Earth’s Bio-diversity)

12. 12
UN Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit)
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1992)
(Environment and Sustainable Development)
Kyoto Protocol (1997)
(Stabilization of Green House Gases)
World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg (2002)
(International Solidarity on Environmental Issues)
Copenhagen Summit (2009)
(Road map for Post-Kyoto treaties)
Bali, Indonesia (2007)
Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA)
established
United Nations Climate Change Conference, Doha, Qatar (2012)
(The Doha Climate Gateway)
Paris Agreement (2016)
(Targets for everyone)

13. Montreal Protocol 1987
13
• Main provisions:
– Requirement for individual countries to phase
out the production and consumption of
designated substances (CFC’s)
– A multilateral fund into which developed
countries could contribute funds that would be
used to help developing countries achieve the
control measures specified in the agreement
– Ban on trade in designated ozone-depleting
chemicals e.g. those containing CFC’s.

14. Ozone Depleting Gas Index
ODGI 2016: 81.4
Source: NOAA, 2016

15. KYOTO PROTOCOL (1997)
15
The UN member countries divided into:
 Annex I countries: Industrialized countries and economies in
transition.
 Annex II countries: Developed countries which pay for costs of
developing countries.
 Non Annex I countries: Developing countries.

18. Kyoto Protocol: Mechanisms

19. Kyoto Protocol (1997)
19
Brown = Countries that have signed and ratified the treaty
(Annex I & II countries in dark brown)
Blue = No intention to ratify at this stage.
Dark blue = Canada, which withdrew from the Protocol in December 2011.
Grey = no position taken or position unknown
Source: UNFCCC, 2016

20. Annex I, II & Non Annex Parties
Source: UNFCCC, 2016

21. CO2 before & after Kyoto Protocol
Source: UNFCCC, 2015

22. 22

23. Paris Agreement on Climate Change, 2016
23
• On 12 December 2015, the Paris Agreement was adopted as an agreement
within the UNFCCC framework.
• 192 countries have signed this agreement (including India).
• 94 Countries have ratified (including India).
• India ratified on 02 October 2016.
• It will come into force on 4 November 2016 after ratification by 55 UNFCCC
Parties, accounting for 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
• Paris Agreement will replace the Kyoto Protocol after its second commitment
period ends on 31 January 2020.

24. Importance of Paris Agreement, 2016
24
For the first time in more than 20 years of
UN’s climate negotiations, the COP21
accomplished a legally binding and
universal agreement on climate: the
Paris Agreement.

25. Provisions in Paris Agreement
25
• A long-term target to limit the rise in the global temperature “to well below 20C
(3.60F) above pre-industrial levels” and appealed to countries to engage in efforts
to restrict the increase to 1.50C.
• A promise to generate a global assessment of climate improvement by 2018;
and the nations will be back to the negotiating table by 2020 for presenting
climate objectives that would represent an advancement ahead of their then-
existing target.
• Voluntary pledges made by 188 parties (countries) to climate change action in
the shape of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs).
• Emissions-slashing pledges from individual countries and promises to help the
developing nations adapt to the detrimental effects of global warming. Moreover, the
negotiators agreed on measures to amend, strengthen, and scrutinize countries’
individual contributions (INDCs).

26. Common But Differentiated Responsibility (CBDR)
(India’s Standpoint)
26
• Stresses the need for equity and fairness
(as highlighted by the developing countries).
• Obligation on all parties (countries) to take
climate action in consideration of their
respective domestic/national circumstances.

27. India Ratifies the Paris Climate Agreement.
What does it mean?
27

28. India’s Ratification of Paris Agreement
28
• India ratified the Paris agreement on climate
change on 2nd October 2016.
• India is the world’s 4th-largest carbon
emitter accounting for 4.1% of the total
global emission, is the 62nd nation to
ratify the agreement.

29. India’s Commitments in Paris Agreement
29
• Reduction in emissions intensity per unit GDP by 33 to 35%
below the 2005 level by 2030.
• The aim is to produce 40% of the total electricity from sources
other than fossil fuels.
• Creation of an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes
of carbon-dioxide through extra forest and tree cover by 2030.
• Voluntarily installing 175 GW of renewable power capacity by
2022 (Targets are 100 GW of electricity from solar energy, of
which 40 GW would be through individual rooftop systems.

30. Volunteer Tasks for you !!
1. Watch and share these documentary movies:
• An Inconvenient Truth (By Al Gore).
• Before the Floods (By Leonardio Caprio).
2. Read the book “Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet” by
Mark Lynas.
(Summary at:
http://www.sustainablewoodstock.co.uk/onetwo%20degrees%20
summary.pdf)