New Delhi: Highlighting four critical aspects of global climate action, Leena Nandan, Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) at COP29 on Monday, said the pre-2030 period is an opportunity to strengthen climate change. global climate action through climate finance to reduce emissions and achieve net zero emissions.

The conditional elements of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) must be implemented, which mainly depends on access to increased financial resources, technology transfer and technical cooperation, as well as support for capacity building ; and availability of market-based mechanisms, Nandan added.

This comes as current national climate plans fall far short of what is needed to prevent global warming from crippling all economies and destroying billions of lives and livelihoods in every country.

Last month’s UNEP emissions gap report concluded that immediate action is needed to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, but it also shows that it is still possible to limit global warming to 1 .5°C.

The report examines the extent to which countries should promise to reduce greenhouse gases and deliver on their promises in the next round of NDCs, which are due to be submitted in early 2025 ahead of COP30 in Brazil. Reductions of 42% are needed by 2030 and 57% by 2035 to reach the 1.5°C target.

According to the 2024 Nationally Determined Contributions Summary Report, cumulative carbon dioxide emissions between 2020 and 2030 are likely to use up to 86% of the remaining carbon budget.

The report does not paint a gloomy picture. One hundred and ninety-five parties submitted their NDCs and 180 updated them. In 2030, total global GHG emissions are estimated to be around 2.6% lower than in 2019, indicating the possibility of a peak in global emissions before 2030. With the next NDCs expected next year, these figures will only continue to improve.

Therefore, “our discussions and deliberations take place at a crucial time to act decisively. The pre-2030 period is an opportunity. This is an opportunity to strengthen global climate action,” Nandan said in a statement at the UNFCCC CoP29 “Annual High-Level Ministerial Roundtable 2024 on Pre-2030 Ambitions” in Baku, Iran. Azerbaijan. This also requires emphasizing equity, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-CR), climate justice in science, policy and practice, ensuring that developing countries are not burdened by the failures of the pre-2020 regime’s mitigation measures, and that climate solutions are both effective and just.

Reaching net zero

India said this ambitious, action-oriented approach depends on bold actions by parties who are required to take the lead in economy-wide emissions reductions. Achieving net zero in developed countries will lay the foundations for a more sustainable and resilient world in this critical decade and decades to come.

To achieve net zero, India, which aims to achieve it by 2070, has highlighted four important aspects of global climate action for parties to the UNFCCC.

Ambition by 2030 requires strengthening international cooperation, in terms of positive and measurable outcomes, such as the identification of cost-effective and scalable mitigation opportunities. However, international cooperation has been uneven, with some countries adopting unilateral measures, resulting in the financial burden of mitigation measures being shifted to developing countries. There is need to recognize the negative impacts on developing countries due to such unilateral trade measures in the context of climate change, the MoEFCC secretary said.

“CoP29 is expected to deliver tangible and meaningful results in technology deployment in developing countries,” Nandan said, adding that climate finance is essential to enable and implement climate actions.

CoP29 is a landmark CoP for climate finance. It should ensure that developed countries have a long-standing commitment to providing substantial financial resources and that this climate finance is equitable and accessible.

The first global review of progress towards implementing the Paris Agreement highlights a significant funding gap for climate action, particularly in developing countries.

In another development, Nandan, during the ‘Second Annual High Level Ministerial Roundtable on Just Transition’, at CoP29, said that India’s interpretation of ‘just transitions’ is much broader than the narrow framework of questions.

At CoP27, it was decided that just transition issues are not very limited but are linked, among other things, to broader economic and social aspects of the transition. “The denial of international equity reduces our national options and poses new challenges to our goals of obtaining immediate, rapid and sustainable access to development opportunities and most affects the most vulnerable communities in our countries,” a- she added.

The concept of just transition, broadly defined as ensuring that no one is left behind or left behind in the transition to low-carbon and environmentally friendly economies and societies, is attracting interest and recognition croissants.