- The 24th Session of the of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 24) was held in Katowice, Poland on December 2-15, 2018.
- The conference was a significant one which focused on three key issues including finalization of guidelines/ modalities/ rules for the implementation of Paris Agreement, the conclusion of 2018 Facilitative Talanoa Dialogue and the stock take of Pre-2020 actions implementation and ambition.
- India demonstrated the spirit of commitment and leadership during the COP-24 by reiterating its promise to implement the Paris Agreement in its spirit and to act collectively to address climate change. India engaged positively and constructively in all the negotiations while protecting India’s key interests including recognition of different starting points of developed and developing countries; flexibilities for developing countries and consideration of principles including equity and Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC).
- The guidance on Nationally Determined Contributions preserves the nationally determined nature of NDCs and provides for Parties to submit different types of contributions including adaptation. The overall guidance reflects the principles of the Paris Agreement and recognizes the leadership that developed countries have to display for achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
- The guidance on adaptation recognizes the adaptation needs of developing countries and is built on the overarching principle of CBDR-RC. The differentiation has been operationalized by incorporating provisions on providing support for adaption activities of developing country parties.
- India has been in favor of a robust transparency regime, and the finalized Enhanced Transparency Framework builds upon the existing guidelines while providing flexibilities for developing countries.
- The guidance on finance provisions operationalizes the obligation of developed countries in providing means of implementation to developing countries and recognizes the need for climate finance to be new and additional and climate specific. Parties have also agreed to initiate the work on setting up the new collective finance goals post-2020 from the floor of USD 100 billion.
- The overarching framework for technology recognizes the need for enhanced support towards operationalization of the framework and comprehensively covers all stages of technology development and transfer.
- The modalities for Global Stocktake take into consideration the core principles of equity and includes assessment of collective progress on all the pillars of climate action.
- India also engaged in a meaningful way in the 2018 Facilitative Talanoa Dialogue and stocktake exercise on Pre-2020 implementation and ambition. The Talanoa Dialogue was an inclusive and participatory process which led to exchanging best practices between all stakeholders. The pre-2020 stocktake exercise also led to a meaningful dialogue with developed countries being urged to step up their actions to mitigate greenhouse gasemissions and to address gaps in the provision of technology, finance and capacity-buildingsupport. The outcome on dialogue also recalls the commitment ofdeveloped country Parties to a goal of mobilizing jointly USD 100 billion per year by 2020. It also notes with concern the current, urgent and emerging needs related to extreme weatherevents and slow onset events in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to theadverse effects of climate change.
- India considers the outcome of COP 24 a positive one which addresses concerns of all Parties and sets us on the path towards successful implementation of the Paris Agreement.
