Global Goal on Adaptation
Significance of COP:
- The COP continues to be the primary location for the construction of the global climate governance apparatus.
Catastrophic weather occurrences in 2023:
- intense heat in Europe and North Africa
- Hawaii and Canada both had wildfires
- Libyan and Indian floods
- Africa’s Horn is experiencing a drought.
- Temperature increases on land and in the water
- Sea ice in Antarctica declined
Global Adaptation Goal (GGA):
- It was created under the Paris Agreement to improve adaptation to climate change by raising awareness of and providing funds for nations to meet their adaptation needs in relation to the agreement’s 1.5°C and 2°C goals.
The proposed text tackles important issues:
- Climate-Induced Water Scarcity Reduction.
- Climate-resilient food and Agriculture Production.
- Strengthening Resilience Against Climate-Related Health Impacts.
Principal goal of the GGA:
- Parties to the Paris Agreement have carried out evaluations of climate hazards that are current.
The effects of climate change and risk exposure:
- Vulnerabilities and having[ing] incorporated the findings of these evaluations into the creation of national adaptation strategies
- Policy tools, and planning procedures and/or strategies”, by 2030.
Obstacles in the execution of GGA:
- All Parties must set up multi-hazard early warning systems, climatic information services, and systematic observation by 2027 in order to reduce risk.
- To facilitate better data, information, and services pertaining to climate change.
- Whether or if it will promote adaptability is an important consideration.
- A thorough analysis of the Millennium Development Goals’ experiences shown that internationally agreed-upon objectives are difficult to translate into national policy.
- National circumstances, such as economic growth and administrative ability, were shown to be important influencing elements in conjunction with sufficient backing for the realisation of a global objective.
Assessing GGA:
- Its scope or degree of implementation cannot be merely summed up by looking at national commitments from different nations.
- A two-year work programme on indicators for tracking advancement towards the goals outlined in GGA draft resolutions has been initiated under the GGA framework.
- However, it doesn’t yet specify how or by whom they will be developed.
Possible function of universal indicators:
- If the benefits of those adaptation activities could be objectively monitored and compared, then investing in them would not be too difficult in an international setting with limited public finances and conflicting agendas.
- Both national budget managers and international donors are in favour of creating a standardised metric.
- They might use this for a variety of adaption tasks with its assistance.
- The second aspect of mitigating the effects of climate change is using a single, broadly applicable, and reasonably straightforward CO2 equivalent metric.
- It can be used in a variety of situations to measure effects in a format that is readily compared.
COP Funding:
The Draft Decision at COP28:
- The phrase “widening gap in adaptation finance” refers to the increasing discrepancy between the expected expenses of reaching a particular adaptation aim and the available funding.
- The COP26’s demand on rich countries to quadruple overall adaptation finance from 2019 levels by 2025 was repeated in the Draft Decision.
- An estimated $71 billion will be needed year from now until 2030, according to estimates based on updated NDCs or national adaptation plans.
- The nations that make up the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have acknowledged that in 2020, their total financial inflows for adaptation and mitigation fell short of the $100 billion yearly target, coming in at $83.3 billion.
The Way Ahead:
- Rich countries do not profit much from the climate change regime since adaptation has primarily been focused on mitigation; instead, gains are localised.
- Benefits from mitigation efforts are felt worldwide, and underdeveloped nations can access affordable mitigation solutions.
- Buchner (Venice, 2011: Climate Policy Initiative). The ratio of financing allocated to adaptation versus mitigation is 95:5.
- According to self-reporting finance providers, there has been a rise in international adaptation funding to developing nations in the past several years, with a projected total of $6 billion by 2020.
- In 2020, the proportion of adaptation funding to developing nations’ overall climate finance was 34%; this is still a significant amount less than mitigation funding (Adaptation Gap Report, 2022).
- The GGA is a positive development because it includes several innovations that will aid in the adaption process.
- When it comes to treating adaptation on a level with mitigation, it fails miserably.
- It emphasises how crucial it is to keep world average temperature increases far below 2°C and 1.5°C in order to maintain the greatest number of adaption alternatives available.
- Greater levels of mitigation provided by GGA will lessen the need for further adaption measures.
