Convention On Climate Change Research Articles

Understanding the Politics and Governance of Climate Change Loss and Damage

Abstract This introduction to the 2023 special issue of Global Environment Politics brings questions related to politics and political processes to the forefront in the study of climate change loss and damage. The aim of avoiding the detrimental impacts of climate change has been at the heart of the international response to global climate change for more than thirty years. Yet the development of global governance responses to climate change loss and damage—those impacts that we cannot, do not or choose not to prevent or adapt to—has only over the last decade become a central theme within the discussions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Loss and damage has also become a research topic of growing importance within an array of disciplines, from international law to the interdisciplinary environmental social sciences. However, the engagement of scholars working in the fields of political science and international relations has been more limited so far. This is surprising because questions about how to best respond to loss and damage are fundamentally political, as they derive from deliberative processes, invoke value judgments, imply contestation, demand the development of policies, and result in distributional outcomes. In this introduction we describe the context and contributions of the research articles in the special issue. By drawing on a wide range of perspectives from across the social sciences, the articles render visible the multifaceted politics of climate change loss and damage and help to account for the trajectory of governance processes.

What are the Forms and Obstacles of Community Participation in Environmental Damage Prevention?

This research examines the national and international legal frameworks governing community involvement in environmental damage prevention and the challenges and various forms of community participation in environmental damage prevention efforts globally. This study uses a qualitative method to conduct normative legal research, which involves a literature review of various international legal instruments and field cases related to community participation in the prevention of environmental damage and uses Seherly Arnenstein's theory of community participation to examine community participation in environmental conservation. The results show that community participation in preventing environmental damage has a legal position at the national and international levels. At the international level, several agreements, such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the Basel Convention, have established a legal framework for preventing environmental damage, including community participation. Meanwhile, at the national level, Law No. 32/2009 on Environmental Protection and Management (UU PPLH) has regulated the rights and obligations of the community in protecting the environment. Furthermore, this study found that community participation in preventing environmental damage can be done through various means, such as decision-making processes, access to environmental information, and participation in implementing environmental policies. However, there are still challenges and obstacles in its implementation, such as limited access to information, lack of public awareness, and lack of government and private sector support. Based on this, more significant efforts are needed to strengthen community participation in preventing environmental damage, including increasing access to environmental education and information and establishing more active and effective forums for community participation. The active involvement of the government, civil society organizations, and private institutions is needed to ensure that community participation in preventing environmental damage can be achieved.

Decarbonization Strategies in the UAE Built Environment: An Evidence-Based Analysis Using COP26 and COP27 Recommendations

The urgency of addressing climate change is increasingly evident through the rise in devastating natural disasters and significant shifts in global temperatures. With the urbanization of rural landscapes to accommodate population growth, the built environment has emerged as a major contributor to climate change, accounting for approximately 40% of natural resource consumption and carbon emissions. In pursuit of tackling climate challenges, countries have united under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to develop strategies for climate action and adaptation, through the Conference of the Parties (COP). The UAE has been an active member of the COP and has been at the forefront of implementing decarbonization strategies. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the decarbonization recommendations presented during COP26 and COP27, specifically focusing on the built environment sector. The primary objective is to highlight how recommendations were effectively incorporated into the UAE’s built environment sector, employing a case study approach further highlighting the specific implementation strategies adopted in the G+2 SEE Institute building while demonstrating how COP26, COP27, and the UAE’s National Climate Change Plan 2017–2050 recommendations were translated into practical measures. The study places particular emphasis on the areas of energy, water and waste management, investigating how these strategies were integrated to promote decarbonization efforts. By examining the G+2 SEE Institute building case, this research attempts to provide valuable insights on aligning built environment practices with climate change mitigation objectives. The planning of the building structure employed a systems thinking approach, while assessments were conducted to identify materials and designs that would enable the building to achieve net-zero status. Real-time data analysis was employed for comprehensive analysis. The findings of this study will contribute to the body of knowledge on sustainable construction practices and serve as a guide for stakeholders, including developers, policymakers, and practitioners, in adopting effective strategies in reducing carbon emissions and fostering environmental sustainability in line with the Paris Agreement.

Towards near-real-time air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions: lessons learned from multiple estimates during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract. The 2020 COVID-19 crisis caused an unprecedented drop in anthropogenic emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases. Given that emissions estimates from official national inventories for the year 2020 were not reported until 2 years later, new and non-traditional datasets to estimate near-real-time emissions became particularly relevant and widely used in international monitoring and modelling activities during the pandemic. This study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on 2020 European (the 27 EU member states and the UK) emissions by comparing a selection of such near-real-time emission estimates, with the official inventories that were subsequently reported in 2022 under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Results indicate that annual changes in total 2020 emissions reported by official and near-real-time estimates are fairly in line for most of the chemical species, with NOx and fossil fuel CO2 being reported as the ones that experienced the largest reduction in Europe in all cases. However, large discrepancies arise between the official and non-official datasets when comparing annual results at the sector and country level, indicating that caution should be exercised when estimating changes in emissions using specific near-real-time activity datasets, such as time mobility data derived from smartphones. The main examples of these differences are observed for the manufacturing industry NOx (relative changes ranging between −21.4 % and −5.4 %) and road transport CO2 (relative changes ranging between −29.3 % and −5.6 %) total European emissions. Additionally, significant discrepancies are observed between the quarterly and monthly distribution of emissions drops reported by the various near-real-time inventories, with differences of up to a factor of 1.5 for total NOx during April 2020, when restrictions were at their maximum. For residential combustion, shipping and the public energy industry, results indicate that changes in emissions that occurred between 2019 and 2020 were mainly dominated by non-COVID-19 factors, including meteorology, the implementation of the Global Sulphur Cap and the shutdown of coal-fired power plants as part of national decarbonization efforts, respectively. The potential increase in NMVOC emissions from the intensive use of personal protective equipment such as hand sanitizer gels is considered in a heterogeneous way across countries in officially reported inventories, indicating the need for some countries to base their calculations on more advanced methods. The findings of this study can be used to better understand the uncertainties in near-real-time emissions and how such emissions could be used in the future to provide timely updates to emission datasets that are critical for modelling and monitoring applications.

Информальные структуры и диалоговые форматы в международном климатическом управлении

In recent years there was a significant of international structures that are being created as platforms for multilateral policydialogue on climate change issues outside the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).Such structures are, for example, the Major Economies Forum (MEF), the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, the on CleanEnergy Ministerial and a wide variety of partnerships. There is no common definition for such formats of cooperation andconceptual ground for understanding their place in international climate governance system. This includes both traditionalinterstate cooperation mechanisms embodied by the UNFCCC, as well as non-state initiatives, climate finance institutions,formats that support a constant dialogue between states, business representatives, academia, and NGOs on climate policyissues. The aim of the study was to clarify the nature of quasi-formal climate governance, to establish a typology and assessof the dynamics of development of quasi-formal entities to better understand the processes of its formation and implementation.I describe three types of quasi-formal entities from the new dataset of quasi-formal entities created in the period from2001–2022: intergovernmental forums, UNFCCC party groupings, and hybrid partnerships. The study reveals an increasein the number of political forums and hybrid partnerships amid stabilization or even reduction of negotiating blocs within theUNFCCC. In complex system of international climate governance, quasi-formal entities are playing an increasing role inthe accumulation and exchange of knowledge and experience between states on the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Petroleum++: Should SPE Be Part of the Conference of the Parties (COP)28?

_ As most of our members know, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) convenes annually at a meeting called Conference of the Parties (COP) in various host countries, usually in November or December. COP is the main decision-making body of the UNFCCC. It includes representatives from all the countries that are signatories (or Parties) to the UNFCCC. COPs are where Parties (governments) assess global efforts to advance the key Paris Agreement aim of limiting global warming to as close as possible to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. This year COP28 will be in Dubai. Although these meetings are focused on mitigating climate change concerns, there is usually considerable time spent on current and future sources of energy. It is noteworthy that our industry, the main provider of energy to the world right now and, as many members of SPE know, for the foreseeable future, is usually not represented in these conferences. This started to change last year in Sharm El Sheikh, and we will probably see more involvement in Dubai. I think SPE, as the largest professional society for the production of the dominant energy source, needs to be part of the discussion. Related to my 2023 theme, Petroleum ++, we have an important role to play in mitigating climate change concerns (the first +) and in developing new low- or no-carbon sources of energy (the second +). We are a technical society that does not lobby or advocate. We offer a forum for presenting and disseminating scientifically vetted technical information about what can be and is being done by our members in the expanded space of our work in the areas of climate change and new energy. We also need to emphasize the fact that we are citizens of this planet, and we care about its future for us and the next generations. I would like to share the points I am making with the organizers of COP28 about our efforts for two reasons. First, to share with our members the efforts being made in this regard and second, for our members to use this information in further developments in their work and discussions with others about the role of petroleum engineering in the expanded energy landscape. Reducing Emissions The SPE Methane Emissions Management Technical Section (MEMTS) was formed in June 2022 to provide a platform for learning and collaboration for SPE members working or interested in the topic. The purpose of MEMTS is to further the objectives of SPE in open discussion of methane emissions management, to generate awareness on industry best practices, and to promote those practices widely. MEMTS is intended to accelerate the translation of technologies and ways of working across upstream, midstream, and downstream to reduce the risk and costs of methane emissions management projects, including: - Planning, measuring, monitoring, recording, analysis, and reporting emissions. - Addressing key abatement activities: fugitive emissions, venting emissions, flaring, methane capture, and use. - Promoting best practices and standardization. - Sharing digitalization best practices. - Supporting related R&D activities. - Addressing the regulatory landscape for emissions. - Optimizing costs and resources. - Addressing corporate risk, governance, and monetization (carbon credits, stock value).

Women and climate change in Vanuatu, Pacific Islands Region

While world leaders met in Egypt in 2022 for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP 27) and danced around the need for critical global action on climate change, ni-Vanuatu (Vanuatu’s citizens) were dealing with its realities. Continuing sea level rises, more intense and frequent cyclones, flooding and landslides are regular occurrences in Vanuatu, challenging the population to adapt. These experiences are made more intense by the knowledge that ni-Vanuatu circumstances are the result of greenhouse gas emissions occurring elsewhere, in countries with higher gross domestic products (GDPs). In this paper, we focus on the experiences of women in Vanuatu to build a greater understanding of the impacts of climate change on women’s lives in one of the most disaster risk countries in the world. In focus groups conducted in 2021 with women in five communities across Vanuatu, women shared their experiences in dealing with climate change, the impacts on food production and food security and the gendered societal expectations that shape the complexity of women’s experiences. We note the way gender relations build on climate change impacts to shape the lives of Vanuatu women. In so doing we highlight the expressed desire of women to bring their experiences of climate change to the international community and to be part of the critical global conversation on climate change.

Role of energy mix and eco-innovation in achieving environmental sustainability in the USA using the dynamic ARDL approach: Accounting the supply side of the ecosystem

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) partners agreed with a landmark decision on environmental concerns at the COP26 in Glasgow, outlining future attempts and measures to ensure a secure environment. In this regard, several prior studies have looked at environmental issues using carbon dioxide emissions, or ecological footprint. However, considering these variables may cause the supply side of environmental quality to be overlooked. To make up for this shortcoming, this study examines the effect of energy mix (fossil fuels, nuclear, and renewables), economic growth, and eco-innovation on the load capacity factor, which emphasizes both the demand and supply side of the ecosystem since it takes biocapacity and ecological footprint into account. Hence, this study differs from previous research in that it takes a broader view of environmental sustainability. In this milieu, the current research employs a recently developed dynamic autoregressive distributed lag (DARDL) simulation model for the United States of America (USA), harnessing data from 1990 to 2018. The findings unveil that nuclear and renewable energy consumption and eco-innovation all positively impress the load capacity factor, meaning that these variables help the USA maintain its environmental sustainability. On the other side, fossil fuel usage and economic expansion curbs environmental sustainability. Furthermore, since the short-run income elasticity is larger than the long-run elasticity, the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis is legitimate for the USA. These findings also validated by the frequency domain causality test. Based on the findings, specific policy proposals are given to assist the USA in improving its environmental quality and achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 7 (clean energy) and 13 (climate change mitigation).

The Inaction in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Some Policy and Legal Issues

This article seeks to examine as to how relevant environmental policy and legal principles deal with adaptation and mitigation challenges posed by climate change in Sub-Saharan Africa. It reviews and analyzes relevant provisions and processes of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement as well as other relevant principles such as common but differentiated responsibility and respective capability (CBDRRC) and binding emission reduction targets. The Sub-Saharan Africa’s attempts to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change are reviewed along with the challenges in the region including the urgent need for climate financing. It concludes by urging the creation of a separate department of climate change by the Sub-Saharan African States, the implementation of environmental liability insurance, the revitalization of the West African power pool project, and the creation of a robust financial mechanism under the Paris Agreement for adaptation and mitigation policies in the Sub-Saharan Africa.

Indicators of Global Climate Change 2022: annual update of large-scale indicators of the state of the climate system and human influence

Abstract. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessments are the trusted source of scientific evidence for climate negotiations taking place under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), including the first global stocktake under the Paris Agreement that will conclude at COP28 in December 2023. Evidence-based decision-making needs to be informed by up-to-date and timely information on key indicators of the state of the climate system and of the human influence on the global climate system. However, successive IPCC reports are published at intervals of 5–10 years, creating potential for an information gap between report cycles. We follow methods as close as possible to those used in the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) Working Group One (WGI) report. We compile monitoring datasets to produce estimates for key climate indicators related to forcing of the climate system: emissions of greenhouse gases and short-lived climate forcers, greenhouse gas concentrations, radiative forcing, surface temperature changes, the Earth's energy imbalance, warming attributed to human activities, the remaining carbon budget, and estimates of global temperature extremes. The purpose of this effort, grounded in an open data, open science approach, is to make annually updated reliable global climate indicators available in the public domain (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8000192, Smith et al., 2023a). As they are traceable to IPCC report methods, they can be trusted by all parties involved in UNFCCC negotiations and help convey wider understanding of the latest knowledge of the climate system and its direction of travel. The indicators show that human-induced warming reached 1.14 [0.9 to 1.4] ∘C averaged over the 2013–2022 decade and 1.26 [1.0 to 1.6] ∘C in 2022. Over the 2013–2022 period, human-induced warming has been increasing at an unprecedented rate of over 0.2 ∘C per decade. This high rate of warming is caused by a combination of greenhouse gas emissions being at an all-time high of 54 ± 5.3 GtCO2e over the last decade, as well as reductions in the strength of aerosol cooling. Despite this, there is evidence that increases in greenhouse gas emissions have slowed, and depending on societal choices, a continued series of these annual updates over the critical 2020s decade could track a change of direction for human influence on climate.

Environmentally Sound Technologies for Climate Change Mitigation in BRICS Countries: A Comparative Policy and Legal Perspective

Adoption of Environmentally Sound Technologies (ESTs), those have the potential for significantly improved environmental performance relative to other technologies is one of the effective steps for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). BRICS countries are emerging economies and play an active role in contributing to GHG emissions and climate change. Therefore, adoption of ESTs in these countries play a crucial role in mitigating climate change. The role of BRICS nations at international climate negotiations are utmost important as it may determine the fate of climate change globally. In this context this paper analyses and discusses the national laws and plans in BRICS countries pertinent to ESTs which are mainly in consonance to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 1992. The legal provisions for development, dissemination, and technology transfer commitments concerning ESTs internationally and within BRICS countries are studied and analysed to understand the current position and future directions toward climate change mitigation.

Satellite quantification of methane emissions and oil–gas methane intensities from individual countries in the Middle East and North Africa: implications for climate action

Abstract. We use 2019 TROPOMI satellite observations of atmospheric methane in an analytical inversion to quantify methane emissions from the Middle East and North Africa at up to ∼25 km × 25 km resolution, using spatially allocated national United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) reports as prior estimates for the fuel sector. Our resulting best estimate of anthropogenic emissions for the region is 35 % higher than the prior bottom-up inventories (+103 % for gas, +53 % for waste, +49 % for livestock, −14 % for oil) with large variability across countries. Oil and gas account for 38 % of total anthropogenic emissions in the region. TROPOMI observations can effectively optimize and separate national emissions by sector for most of the 23 countries in the region, with 6 countries accounting for most of total anthropogenic emissions including Iran (5.3 (5.0–5.5) Tg a−1; best estimate and uncertainty range), Turkmenistan (4.4 (2.8–5.1) Tg a−1), Saudi Arabia (4.3 (2.4–6.0) Tg a−1), Algeria (3.5 (2.4–4.4) Tg a−1), Egypt (3.4 (2.5–4.0) Tg a−1), and Turkey (3.0 (2.0–4.1) Tg a−1). Most oil–gas emissions are from the production (upstream) subsector, but Iran, Turkmenistan, and Saudi Arabia have large gas emissions from transmission and distribution subsectors. We identify a high number of annual oil–gas emission hotspots in Turkmenistan, Algeria, and Oman and offshore in the Persian Gulf. We show that oil–gas methane emissions for individual countries are not related to production, invalidating a basic premise in the construction of activity-based bottom-up inventories. Instead, local infrastructure and management practices appear to be key drivers of oil–gas emissions, emphasizing the need for including top-down information from atmospheric observations in the construction of oil–gas emission inventories. We examined the methane intensity, defined as the upstream oil–gas emission per unit of methane gas produced, as a measure of the potential for decreasing emissions from the oil–gas sector and using as reference the 0.2 % target set by the industry. We find that the methane intensity in most countries is considerably higher than this target, reflecting leaky infrastructure combined with deliberate venting or incomplete flaring of gas. However, we also find that Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar meet the industry target and thus show that the target is achievable through the capture of associated gas, modern infrastructure, and the concentration of operations. Decreasing methane intensities across the Middle East and North Africa to 0.2 % would achieve a 90 % decrease in oil–gas upstream emissions and a 26 % decrease in total anthropogenic methane emissions in the region, making a significant contribution toward the Global Methane Pledge.

Governing-by-aspiration? Assessing the nature and implications of including negative emission technologies (NETs) in country long-term climate strategies

In order to address the pressing challenge of climate change, countries are now submitting long-term climate strategies to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process. These strategies include within them potential future use of ‘negative emissions technologies’ (NETs). NETs are interventions that remove carbon from the atmosphere, ranging from large-scale terrestrial carbon sequestration in forests, wetlands and soils, to use of carbon capture and storage technologies. We assess here how NETs are discussed in 29 long-term climate strategies, in order to ascertain the risk that including the promise of future NETs may delay the taking of short-term mitigation actions. Our analysis shows that almost all countries plan to rely on NETs, particularly enhanced use of natural carbon sinks, even as a wide array of challenges and trade-offs in doing so are highlighted. Many strategies call for improved accounting systems and market incentives in realizing future NETs. While no strategy explicitly suggests that NETs can be a substitute for short-term mitigation, most estimate substantial potential for future use of NETs even in the face of acknowledged uncertainties. This, we suggest, may have the consequence of resulting in what we describe here as ‘a spiral of delay’ characterized by the promise of future NET options juxtaposed with the simultaneous uncertainty around these future options. Our analysis highlights that this inter-connected delaying dynamic may be intrinsic to what we term ‘governing-by-aspiration’ within global climate politics, wherein the voicing of lofty future ambition risks replacing current action and accountability.

COP27 Loss and Damage Fund—Financial Band Aid or Effective Mechanism?

The Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) brings together nearly 200 parties for an annual meeting to assess progress against global climate objectives and determine if, and what, additional actions are required to achieve them. For two weeks in November 2022, the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) was held in Sharm el‐Sheikh, Egypt.

Parallel Universe: EU Cross-forum Coherence on Climate in International Transport Fora

ABSTRACT Following the Paris Agreement, the European Union (EU) prioritised climate negotiations in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), attempting to work in a way that was consistent with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Examining the negotiations of ICAO CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, 2016) and the IMO Initial Strategy (2018), I demonstrate that the EU’s objectives and external action were in fact incoherent with its approach to the UNFCCC. This incoherence appeared to be the result of a limited appetite for climate action in ICAO/IMO. In the former, this situation was exacerbated by the forum’s technical nature, mismatched priorities and limited coordination between EU climate and transport spheres. In the latter, a lack of political interest at the EU and international levels also played a role.

UN CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND OUR NATIONAL PLAN FOR CLIMATIC CHANGES

Paper highlights the contemporary issues of climatic change and its serious global environmental concern. It is primarily caused by the building up of Green House Gases (GHG) in the atmosphere. The global increases in carbon dioxide concentration (CO2) are primarily due to fossil fuel use and due to agriculture land use change yielding the methane and nitrous oxide. Global Warming is a specific example of the broader term “Climate Change”. It also discuss the scientific studies about UN framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC), conferences of parties (CoP) on climate change, our national action plan on climatic changes, eight national missions and in last the impacts of climate change on India and implementation of our national missions of NPA.

Negotiating climate change in public discourse: insights from critical discourse studies

ABSTRACT This Special Issue collects five articles that are located in the present global context, and draw on methods from across critical discourse studies (CDS) to examine the interaction between material realities of climate change and discursive communication between different Parties and non-Party stakeholders in multimodal ways and on multiple platforms. To this end, it draws on discourses such as the UN speeches, UN documents, EU green deal policy, official documents submitted by African countries to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and news reports in China and Australia. In these studies, diverse social and linguistic concepts were utilized and revisited to better inform the use of linguistic and/or visual symbols in different types of public discourse. This Special Issue aims to take the field a step further by showing the importance of carrying out more international research to expand our knowledge of the global, regional, and local discourse and ideologies that shape what we come to know and understand as climate change and how it is to be addressed. We envisage it will bring significant theoretical, methodological, and empirical insights into the relations between language use, discursive practice, and social practice.

"THE ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS IN MITIGATING GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE"

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international treaty established in 1992 under the auspices of the United Nations. It aims to promote global cooperation in combating climate change and adapting to its impacts. The UNFCCC sets out a framework for countries to work together to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that prevents dangerous human interference with the climate system. It recognizes that the climate system is a shared resource that requires international cooperation to protect. One of the key achievements of the UNFCCC was the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015. This historic agreement builds upon the principles of the UNFCCC and aims to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, while pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. It also emphasizes the need for countries to enhance their adaptive capacity and support developing nations in their climate actions. The UNFCCC facilitates regular meetings called Conferences of the Parties (COP) where countries come together to discuss and negotiate climate-related issues. These COP meetings provide a platform for countries to review progress, share experiences, and strengthen international cooperation in addressing climate change. The United Nations plays a vital role in mobilizing political will, fostering international collaboration, and supports countries in their efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to the impacts of climate change, and promote sustainable development. In conclusion, the UNFCCC, under the guidance of the United Nations, serves as a crucial platform for global action on climate change. It provides a framework for international cooperation, facilitates negotiations, and promotes sustainable solutions to address the urgent challenge of climate change.

MAPPING INDIA’S POSITION IN UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCES (UNFCCC) – WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO COP-26

One of the crucial challenges of the 21s century is Climate Change that has severe impact all over the world. It is a universal phenomenon with local effects. So, the issue should be determined by collective efforts. The United Nations voiced concern about this in the 1970s and called for an international summit in Stockholm, which caused in the establishment of global environmental governance in 1972 and the creation of the United Nations Environment Program (UNDP).Later, The First Global Climate Conference was planned for in 1979. From October 29 to November 7, 1990, Geneva hosted the Second International Climate Conference. Its primary duty was to evaluate the WCP (World Climate Program) that WCC-1 had established. It was an important phase towards a inclusive climate accord. The WCC-2 called for the establishment of a climate convention along with foster international efforts to address climate change that led to the establishment of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in 1992 that implemented in 1994 by singing of 154 countries. Since then from 1995 onwards Parties to the Convention, i.e, called Conference of Parties (COP), the ultimate body have met annually to access and review in dealing with climate change. Significantly, from the starting, India has been very concern in the environmental degradation and took part every global environmental conferences with binding coomitments. However, this paper seeks to study India’s Response in United Nations Climate Change Conferences in General and trying to analyse India’s stance in COP – 26 that was held in Glasgow, Scotland in particular.

Lessons from the Women and Gender Constituency: Interrogating Civil Society Strategies for Organising in the UNFCCC

While scholarship on the topic of gender and the environment is steadily growing, little is known about the challenges faced and successes seen by women and gender NGOs operating as a central part of environment-focused civil society. In this paper, I offer such an analysis, examining the political strategies—rhetorical and procedural—mobilised by the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC) in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). I argue that the WGC has seen lots of success in mobilising arguments that foreground women’s vulnerability to the effects of climate change. But at the same time, the constituency has seen far more resistance to more intersectional feminist arguments that interrogate the role of masculinised discursive power in shaping climate politics. This is at least in part a result of a wider structure of civil society that pigeonholes different identities (e.g. gender, youth, indigenous peoples) in a way that separates their deeply interconnected struggles. Understanding this structural barrier, or dark side of civil society, is crucial to envisioning a more fruitful integration of civil society in sustainability politics.