US and CLIMATE ACTION

US and CLIMATE ACTION

Subject: Environment

Context: Joe Biden assumed office as President of the United States on January 20, 2021, and among the first orders he signed was one to restore America’s participation in the United Nations Paris Agreement on climate change.

Concept:

US National Pledge

• To achieve an economy-wide reduction of its GHG emissions by 26%-28% below the 2005 level in 2025 and to make best efforts to reduce emissions.
• Contribution of about $3 billion to the UN’s Green Climate Fund. However it had stopped its contribution, after transferring an estimated $1 billion.

Paris Agreement

• The Paris Agreement, adopted at COP 21 in Paris, on 2015, constitutes a landmark agreement on climate change that seeks to limit global average temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and endeavour to limit the increase to 1.5°C.
• The agreement, which came into force on November 4, 2016, currently has 188 parties.
• All parties to it are expected to undertake ambitious efforts to support the agreement’s goals and communicate their related intentions every five years in the form of NDCs.

UN Green Climate Fund

• The GCF was set up in 2010 under the UNFCCC’s financial mechanism to channel funding from developed countries to developing countries to allow them to mitigate climate change and also adapt to disruptions arising from a changing climate.
• The Green Climate Fund will support projects, programmes, policies and other activities in developing country Parties using thematic funding windows.
• It is intended to be the centre piece of efforts to raise Climate Finance of $100 billion a year by 2020.
• The Fund will promote the paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways by providing support to developing countries to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions .
• The Fund is governed and supervised by a Board that will have full responsibility for funding decisions and that receives the guidance of the Conference of Parties (COP). The Fund is accountable to, and functions under the guidance of, the COP.