The Global Stocktake

The Global Stocktake

News: The global stocktake’s third and final technical dialogue gets underway at the Bonn Climate Change Conference.

What is GST?
 Global Stocktake, or GST, a term that is expected to come up frequently in climate change conversations this year. Mandated by the 2015 Paris Agreement, GST is an exercise aimed at assessing the progress being made in the fight against climate change, and deciding ways and means to enhance the global effort to bridge the adequacy gap.
 The current stocktake is the first such exercise and is mandated by the Paris Agreement to happen every five years hereafter. Essentially, it is an opportunity for course correction.
 The current set of actions are woefully inadequate to limit the global temperature rise within 1.5 degree Celsius from pre-industrial times.
 The most notable of these is the sixth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published over the last four years. The world needs to cut its emissions by almost half by 2030 from the 2019 levels if it has to retain any realistic chances of achieving the 1.5 degree target. At current levels of climate action, the world is headed to a nearly 3 degree Celsius warmer world by 2100.

What are the challenges?
 Collective action of every country will still be inadequate thus there is need of some imposition measures but most countries are not same terms in this matter.
 Thus, the GST discussions are fraught with the same troubles as the rest of the climate negotiations — apportioning responsibility for enhanced climate action.
 Rich and developed countries want major emitters like China and India, and others, to do more.
 USA wants next round of climate action plans finalised by countries must have emission reduction contributions from all sectors of the economy. Primarily directed at India, whose climate commitments are mainly about increasing renewable energy footprint, improving energy efficiency, and augmenting its forests and not committing to restricting methane emissions from agriculture.

What was India’s reaction?
 India said it retained its “sovereign right” to determine its climate targets in pursuit of its national goals. It also said that it did not accept the suggestions that NDCs must necessarily be economy-wide.
 

What did China say?
 China pointed out that there was now irrefutable scientific evidence to show that a bulk of the carbon dioxide emissions from 1850 to 2018 had been generated before 1990 thus targeting developed countries.