Analytical Briefing on Climate Ambition and Sustainability Action
June 2019, Issue No. 2
Message from R. K. Pachauri
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change contains an explicit provision stating that parties should act to protect the climate system “on the basis of equality and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities”. This is a reflection of the fact that human induced climate change is caused by the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs), which were 280 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide at the beginning of industrialization and have just crossed 415 ppm this month. Since the overwhelming share of cumulative emissions and concentration of GHGs historically was produced by the developed countries, and the impacts of climate change would be suffered by several vulnerable regions of the developing countries, the “common but differentiated responsibility” (CBDR) clause was meant to restore a degree of fairness, equity and justice. But at the behest of developed country governments, their media and even some non-governmental organizations in those nations, the logic and articulation of the CBDR clause has become muted. They are now emphasizing future growth in emissions from the developing world, and brushing under the carpet their own historical responsibility towards human induced climate change.
The prospect of sea level rise (SLR) which could reach catastrophic proportions with excessive melting of the Greenland and West Antarctica ice sheets would imperil the small island states and low lying areas of the world. Since the developing nations have neither the resources nor the infrastructure for protection against SLR, they would have no choice but to be destroyed by SLR related extreme events or succumb to displacement from the land of their forefathers before catastrophe strikes. What we see as a historical reality is that some societies have altered the geography of this planet, but are now failing to abide by the principle of CBDR. This is patently unfair, inequitable and unethical with consequences across time and space. We have to act on a collective basis in every segment of society to limit temperature increase by 2100 to 1.5 degrees C and ward of the disaster that awaits us if we are complacent.
The Analytical Brief on Climate Ambition and Sustainability Action (ABCASA)—jointly brought out by the World Sustainable Development Forum and Protect our Planet Movement—seeks to highlight a topical issue relevant to the realization of the sustainable development goals and ambitious climate actions. The topic of the current ABCASA is on Small Island Developing States and Climate Change in the context of loss and damage mechanism.