A 1.5° C resilient world

By S R Ranjan: Resilience and sustainability support nature and are much needed nature-based solutions to deal with the impacts of climate change. The world is not only responding to the challenges of climate change but has also adopted various such environmental solutions. Needless to say, climate crisis has found its place among the top international agendas for global action. The roadmap to global climate actions calls for collaborative effort and integrated approach to realize targets and commitments to stop runaway climate change.

A vision to achieve climate targets had been laid down in the Climate Action Pathways – a vital part of the Marrakech Partnership – to enhance climate action and ambition across key sectors to fully implement the Paris Agreement. According to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Pathways, first launched in 2019, set out sectoral visions for achieving a 1.5° C resilient world in 2050, with overarching transformational milestones, and key impacts that need to be achieved to realize them. “The key aim of the 2021 Pathways is to further strengthen the aspects of just transition, resilience and circular economy, deepening the alignment of actions across the Pathways.”

In the run-up to the COP26 climate change conference, the Pathways provides a sectoral plan to bring together countries, regions, cities and non-state actors like businesses, institutions and investors for global climate action like ‘Race to Zero’ campaign to secure global net-zero emissions. “Overall, the Pathways aim to provide a roadmap to help parties and non-party stakeholders alike to identify actions needed by 2021, 2025, 2030 and 2040 as steps to get to the 2050 vision,” UNFCCC.

At the recent Climate Breakthroughs Summit, reportedly as per UN Climate release, world leaders discussed progress in critical sectors of the global economy, including steel, shipping, green hydrogen and nature. UN high-level climate champion for COP26 Nigel Topping said, “The only way to deliver the promise of the Paris Agreement is with immediate action. The Climate Action Pathways light the way for actors across the global economy to take the urgent next steps to halve emissions by 2030.” 

In the ‘Race to Zero’, non-state actors are defining how to meet their climate targets. Companies and institutions’ transitions are being supported by sectoral plans reflected in the revised Climate Action Pathways. The industry pathway shows that decarbonizing both heavy industry and light industry is technically and economically feasible through increasing productivity, decarbonising production processes and reducing materials and energy use.

The Pathways incorporate insights about the exponential nature of the necessary systemic and technological change within sectors, but also focus on the synergies and inter linkages across the thematic and cross-cutting areas in order to assist all actors to take an integrated approach, according to the UNFCCC.

(Singh Rakesh Ranjan)

Freelance Journalist

(Representational images: source)