Special Report on Climate Change
- ‘Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C’ = by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) + 1.5 degree C rise in temperatures will be catastrophic for coastal nations and agricultural economies like India + Decline in crop yields, unprecedented climate extremes and increased susceptibility could push poverty by several million by 2050
- The Paris Agreement aims to keep global temperature rise in this century well below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the increase even further, to 1.5°C. The IPCC makes it clear that the human and economic costs of a 2°C rise are far greater than for 1.5°C, and the need for action is urgent. Human activity has warmed the world by 1°C over the pre-industrial level and with another half-degree rise, many regions will have warmer extreme temperatures, raising the frequency, intensity and amount of rain or severity of drought.
- Actions to be taken against CC by India = commitment to generate 100 GW of solar energy by 2022 should lead to a quick scale-up from the 24 GW installed + cutting down of coal use + Agriculture needs to be strengthened with policies that improve water conservation + afforestation should help create a large carbon sink + There is a crucial role for all the States, since their decisions will have a lock-in effect