COP28 Agreement Signals “Beginning of the End” of the Fossil Fuel Era

The UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) closed December 13, 2023 with an agreement that signals the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era by laying the ground for a swift, just and equitable transition, underpinned by deep emissions cuts and scaled-up finance.

In a demonstration of global solidarity, negotiators from nearly 200 Parties came together in Dubai with a decision on the world’s first ‘global stocktake’ to ratchet up climate action before the end of the decade – with the overarching aim to keep the global temperature limit of 1.5°C within reach.

“Whilst we didn’t turn the page on the fossil fuel era in Dubai, this outcome is the beginning of the end,” said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell in his closing speech. “Now all governments and businesses need to turn these pledges into real-economy outcomes, without delay.”

The global stocktake is considered the central outcome of COP28 – as it contains every element that was under negotiation and can now be used by countries to develop stronger climate action plans due by 2025.

The stocktake recognizes the science that indicates global greenhouse gas emissions need to be cut 43% by 2030, compared to 2019 levels, to limit global warming to 1.5°C. But it notes Parties are off track when it comes to meeting their Paris Agreement goals.

The stocktake calls on Parties to take actions towards achieving, at a global scale, a tripling of renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency improvements by 2030. The list also includes accelerating efforts towards the phase-down of unabated coal power, phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, and other measures that drive the transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, with developed countries continuing to take the lead.

In the short-term, Parties are encouraged to come forward with ambitious, economy-wide emission reduction targets, covering all greenhouse gases, sectors and categories and aligned with the 1.5°C limit in their next round of climate action plans (known as nationally determined contributions) by 2025.

Helping countries strengthen resilience to the effects of climate change

The two-week-long conference got underway with the World Climate Action Summit, which brought together 154 Heads of States and Government. Parties reached a historic agreement on the operationalization of the loss and damage fund and funding arrangements – the first time a substantive decision was adopted on the first day of the conference. Commitments to the fund started coming in moments after the decision was gaveled, totaling more than USD 700 million to date.

There was more progress on the loss and damage agenda with an agreement also reached that the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the UN Office for Project Services will host the secretariat of the Santiago Network for Loss and Damage. This platform will catalyze technical assistance to developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

Parties agreed on targets for the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) and its framework, which identify where the world needs to get to in order to be resilient to the impacts of a changing climate and to assess countries’ efforts. The GGA framework reflects a global consensus on adaptation targets and the need for finance, technology and capacity-building support to achieve them.

Increasing climate finance

Climate finance took center stage at the conference, with Stiell repeatedly calling it the “great enabler of climate action.”

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) received a boost to its second replenishment with six countries pledging new funding at COP28 with total pledges now standing at a record USD 12.8 billion from 31 countries, with further contributions expected.

Eight donor governments announced new commitments to the Least Developed Countries Fund and Special Climate Change Fund totaling more than USD 174 million to date, while new pledges, totaling nearly USD 188 million so far, were made to the Adaptation Fund at COP28.

However as highlighted in the global stocktake, these financial pledges are far short of the trillions eventually needed to support developing countries with clean energy transitions, implementing their national climate plans and adaptation efforts.

In order to deliver such funding, the global stocktake underscores the importance of reforming the multilateral financial architecture, and accelerating the ongoing establishment of new and innovative sources of finance.

At COP28, discussions continued on setting a ‘new collective quantified goal on climate finance’ in 2024, taking into account the needs and priorities of developing countries. The new goal, which will start from a baseline of USD 100 billion per year, will be a building block for the design and subsequent implementation of national climate plans that need to be delivered by 2025.

Looking ahead to the transitions to decarbonized economies and societies that lie ahead, there was agreement that the mitigation work programme, which was launched at COP27 last year, will continue until 2030, with at least two global dialogues held each year.

Event participation and inclusivity

World leaders at COP28 were joined by civil society, business, Indigenous Peoples, youth, philanthropy, and international organizations in a spirit of shared determination to close the gaps to 2030. Some 85,000 participants attended COP28 to share ideas, solutions, and build partnerships and coalitions.

The decisions taken here today also reemphasize the critical importance of empowering all stakeholders to engage in climate action; in particular through the action plan on Action for Climate Empowerment and the Gender Action Plan.

Strengthening collaboration between governments and key stakeholders

In parallel with the formal negotiations, the Global Climate Action space at COP28 provided a platform for governments, businesses and civil society to collaborate and showcase their real-world climate solutions.

The High-Level Champions, under the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action, launched their implementation roadmap of 2030 Climate Solutions. These are a set of solutions, with insights from a wide range of non-Party stakeholders on effective measures that need to be scaled up and replicated to halve global emissions, address adaptation gaps and increase resilience by 2030.

The conference also saw several announcements to boost the resilience of food and public health systems, and to reduce emissions related to agriculture and methane.

Looking ahead

The negotiations on the ‘enhanced transparency framework’ at COP28 laid the ground for a new era of implementing the Paris Agreement. UN Climate Change is developing the transparency reporting and review tools for use by Parties, which were showcased and tested at COP28. The final versions of the reporting tools should be made available to Parties by June 2024.

COP28 also saw Parties agree to Azerbaijan as host of COP29 from 11-22 November 2024, and Brazil as COP30 host from 10-21 November 2025.

The next two years will be critical. At COP29, governments must establish a new climate finance goal, reflecting the scale and urgency of the climate challenge. And at COP30, they must come prepared with new nationally determined contributions that are economy-wide, cover all greenhouse gases and are fully aligned with the 1.5°C temperature limit.

“We must get on with the job of putting the Paris Agreement fully to work,” said Stiell. “In early 2025, countries must deliver new nationally determined contributions. Every single commitment – on finance, adaptation, and mitigation – must bring us in line with a 1.5-degree world.”

“My final message is to ordinary people everywhere raising their voices for change,” Stiell added. “Every one of you is making a real difference. In the crucial coming years your voices and determination will be more important than ever. I urge you never to relent. We are still in this race. We will be with you every single step of the way.”

“The world needed to find a new way. By following our North Star, we have found that path,” said COP28 President, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber during his closing speech. “We have worked very hard to secure a better future for our people and our planet. We should be proud of our historic achievement.”

(From UN Press Release)

 

2023 WMO Provisional State of the Global Climate Report

On 30^th November 2023, WMO released the 2023 Provisional State of the Global Climate report.

The WMO provisional State of the Global Climate report confirms that 2023 is set to be the warmest year on record. Data until the end of October shows that the year was about 1.40 degrees Celsius (with a margin of uncertainty of ±0.12°C )above the pre-industrial 1850-1900 baseline.  The difference between 2023 and 2016 and 2020 - which were previously ranked as the warmest years - is such that the final two months are very unlikely to affect the ranking.

 

The past nine years, 2015 to 2023, were the warmest on record. The warming El Niño event, which emerged during the Northern Hemisphere spring of 2023 and developed rapidly during summer, is likely to further fuel the heat in 2024 because El Niño typically has the greatest impact on global temperatures after it peaks.

 

The WMO provisional State of the Global Climate report was published to inform negotiations at COP28 in Dubai. It combines input from National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, regional climate centres, UN partners and leading climate scientists. The temperature figures are a consolidation of six leading international datasets.

 

The final State of the Global Climate 2023 report, along with regional reports, will be published in the first half of 2024.

 

Key messages 

• 2023 set to be warmest year on record
• Greenhouse gas levels continue to increase
• Record sea surface temperatures and sea level rise
• Record low Antarctic sea ice 
• Extreme weather causes death and devastation

 

Details 

Greenhouse Gases 

Observed concentrations of the three main greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide – reached record high levels in 2022, the latest year for which consolidated global values are available. Real-time data from specific locations show that levels of the three greenhouse gases continued to increase in 2023.

 

Global Temperatures

The global mean near-surface temperature in 2023 (to October) was around 1.40 (± 0.12) °C above the 1850–1900 average. Based on the data to October, it is virtually certain that 2023 will be the warmest year in the 174-year observational record, surpassing the previous joint warmest years, 2016 at 1.29 ( ± 0.12) °C above the 1850–1900 average and 2020 at 1.27 (±0.13) °C.

 

Record monthly global temperatures have been observed for the ocean – from April through to October – and, starting slightly later, the land – from July through to October. June, July, August, September and October 2023 each surpassed the previous record for the respective month by a wide margin in all datasets used by WMO for the climate report.  July is typically the warmest month of the year globally, and thus July 2023 became the all-time warmest month on record.

 

Sea surface temperatures  

Global average sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) were at a record observed high for the time of year, starting in the late Northern Hemisphere spring. April through September (the latest month for which we have data) were all at a record warm high, and the records for July, August and September were each broken by a large margin (around 0.21 to 0.27 °C). Exceptional warmth was recorded in the eastern North Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, and large areas of the Southern Ocean, with widespread marine heatwaves.

 

Ocean heat content

Ocean heat content reached its highest level in 2022, the latest available full year of data in the 65-year observational record. It is expected that warming will continue – a change which is irreversible on centennial to millennial timescales. All data sets agree that ocean warming rates show a particularly strong increase in the past two decades.

 

Sea level rise

In 2023, global mean sea level reached a record high in the satellite record (since 1993), reflecting continued ocean warming as well as the melting of glaciers and ice sheets. The rate of global mean sea level rise in the past ten years (2013–2022) is more than twice the rate of sea level rise in the first decade of the satellite record (1993–2002).

 

Cryosphere

Antarctic sea-ice extent reached an absolute record low for the satellite era (1979 to present) in February. Ice extent was at a record low for the time of year from June onwards. The annual maximum in September was 16.96 million km2, roughly 1.5 million km2 below the 1991–2020 average and 1 million km2 below the previous record low maximum, from 1986.

Arctic sea-ice extent remained well below normal, with the annual maximum and minimum sea ice extents being the fifth and sixth lowest on record respectively.

Glaciers in western North America and the European Alps experienced an extreme melt season. In Switzerland, glaciers have lost around 10% of their remaining volume in the past two years.

 

Extreme weather and climate events

Extreme weather and climate events had major impacts on all inhabited continents. These included major floods, tropical cyclones, extreme heat and drought, and associated wildfires.

 

Flooding associated with extreme rainfall from Mediterranean Cyclone Daniel affected Greece, Bulgaria, Türkiye, and Libya with particularly heavy loss of life in Libya in September.

 

Tropical Cyclone Freddy in February and March was one of the world’s longest-lived tropical cyclones with major impacts on Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi. Tropical Cyclone Mocha, in May, was one of the most intense cyclones ever observed in the Bay of Bengal.

Extreme heat affected many parts of the world. Some of the most significant were in southern Europe and North Africa, especially in the second half of July where severe and exceptionally persistent heat occurred. Temperatures in Italy reached 48.2 °C, and record-high temperatures were reported in Tunis (Tunisia) 49.0 °C, Agadir (Morocco) 50.4 °C and Algiers (Algeria) 49.2 °C.

 

Canada’s wildfire season was well beyond any previously recorded. The total area burned nationally as of 15 October was 18.5 million hectares, more than six times the 10-year average (2013–2022). The fires also led to severe smoke pollution, particularly in the heavily populated areas of eastern Canada and the north-eastern United States. The deadliest single wildfire of the year was in Hawaii, with at least 99 deaths reported – the deadliest wildfire in the USA for more than 100 years.

 

Five consecutive seasons of drought in the Greater Horn of Africa was followed by floods, triggering even more displacements. The drought reduced the capacity of the soil to absorb water, which increased flood risk when the Gu rains arrived in April and May.

 

Long-term drought intensified in many parts of Central America and South America. In northern Argentina and Uruguay, rainfall from January to August was 20 to 50% below average, leading to crop losses and low water storage levels.

 

Socio-economic impacts

Weather and climate hazards exacerbated challenges with food security, population displacements and impacts on vulnerable populations. They continued to trigger new, prolonged, and secondary displacement and increased the vulnerability of many who were already uprooted by complex multi-causal situations of conflict and violence.

 

One of the essential components for reducing the impact of disasters is to have effective multi-hazard early warning systems. The international Early Warnings for All initiative seeks to ensure that everyone is protected by early warning systems by the end of 2027. Development and implementation of local disaster risk reduction strategies have increased since the adoption of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

 

2023 Emissions Gap Report Released

On November 20, 2023, UNEP released the Emissions Gap Report 2023: Broken Record – Temperatures hit new highs, yet world fails to cut emissions (again). As global temperatures and greenhouse gas emissions break records, the Report finds that current pledges under the Paris Agreement put the world on track for a 2.5-2.9°C temperature rise above pre-industrial levels this century, pointing to the urgent need for increased climate action.  

Released ahead of the 2023 climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the Report finds that global low-carbon transformations are needed to deliver cuts to predicted 2030 greenhouse gas emissions of 28% for a 2°C pathway and 42 per cent for a 1.5°C pathway. 

“We know it is still possible to make the 1.5 degree limit a reality. It requires tearing out the poisoned root of the climate crisis: fossil fuels. And it demands a just, equitable renewables transition,” said Antònio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations.  

Maintaining the possibility of achieving the Paris Agreement temperature goals hinges on significantly strengthening mitigation this decade to narrow the emissions gap. This will facilitate more ambitious targets for 2035 in the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and increase the chances of meeting net-zero pledges, which now cover around 80 per cent of global emissions.

“There is no person or economy left on the planet untouched by climate change, so we need to stop setting unwanted records on greenhouse gas emissions, global temperature highs and extreme weather,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. “We must instead lift the needle out of the same old groove of insufficient ambition and not enough action, and start setting other records: on cutting emissions, on green and just transitions and on climate finance.” 

Broken records 

Until the beginning of October this year, 86 days were recorded with temperatures over 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. September was the hottest recorded month ever, with global average temperatures 1.8°C above pre-industrial levels.  

The report finds that global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions increased by 1.2 per cent from 2021 to 2022 to reach a new record of 57.4 Gigatonnes of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (GtCO2e). GHG emissions across the G20 increased by 1.2 per cent in 2022. Emissions trends reflect global patterns of inequality. Because of these worrying trends and insufficient mitigation efforts, the world is on track for a temperature rise far beyond the agreed climate goals during this century. 

If mitigation efforts implied by current policies are continued at today’s levels, global warming will only be limited to 3°C above pre-industrial levels in this century. Fully implementing efforts implied by unconditional Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) would put the world on track for limiting temperature rise to 2.9°C. Conditional NDCs fully implemented would lead to temperatures not exceeding 2.5°C above pre-industrial levels. All of these are with a 66 per cent chance. 

These temperature projections are slightly higher than in the 2022 Emissions Gap Report, as the 2023 report includes a larger number of models in the estimation of global warming.  

Current unconditional NDCs imply that additional emissions cuts of 14 GtCO2e are needed in 2030 over predicted levels for 2°C. Cuts of 22 GtCO2e are needed for 1.5°C. The implementation of conditional NDCs reduces both these estimates by 3 GtCO2e. 

In percentage terms, the world needs to cut 2030 emissions by 28 per cent to get on track to achieve the 2°C goal of the Paris Agreement, with a 66 per cent chance, and 42 per cent for the 1.5°C goal.  

If all conditional NDCs and long-term net-zero pledges were met, limiting the temperature rise to 2°C would be possible. However, net-zero pledges are not currently considered credible: none of the G20 countries are reducing emissions at a pace consistent with their net-zero targets. Even in the most optimistic scenario, the likelihood of limiting warming to 1.5°C is only 14 per cent. 

Some progress, but not enough 

Policy progress since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015 has reduced the implementation gap, defined as the difference between projected emissions under current policies and full NDC implementation. GHG emissions in 2030 based on policies in place were projected to increase by 16 per cent at the time of the adoption of the Paris Agreement. Today, the projected increase is 3 per cent.  

As of 25 September, 2023, nine countries had submitted new or updated NDCs since COP27 in 2022, bringing the total number of updated NDCs to 149. If all new and updated unconditional NDCs are fully implemented, they would likely reduce GHG emissions by about 5.0 GtCO2e, about 9 per cent of 2022 emissions, annually by 2030, compared with the initial NDCs.  

However, unless emission levels in 2030 are brought down further, it will become impossible to establish least-cost pathways that limit global warming to 1.5°C with no or low overshoot during this century. Significantly ramping up implementation in this decade is the only way to avoid significant overshoot of 1.5°C.  

Low-carbon development transformations  

The report calls for all nations to deliver economy-wide, low-carbon development transformations, with a focus on the energy transition. The coal, oil and gas extracted over the lifetime of producing and planned mines and fields would emit over 3.5 times the carbon budget available to limit warming to 1.5°C, and almost the entire budget available for 2°C. 

Countries with greater capacity and responsibility for emissions – particularly high-income and high-emitting countries among the G20 – will need to take more ambitious and rapid action and provide financial and technical support to developing nations. As low- and middle-income countries already account for more than two thirds of global GHG emissions, meeting development needs with low-emissions growth is a priority in such nations – such as addressing energy demand patterns and prioritizing clean energy supply chains. 

The low-carbon development transition poses economic and institutional challenges for low- and middle-income countries, but also provides significant opportunities. Transitions in such countries can help to provide universal access to energy, lift millions out of poverty and expand strategic industries. The associated energy growth can be met efficiently and equitably with low-carbon energy as renewables get cheaper, ensuring green jobs and cleaner air. 

To achieve this, international financial assistance will have to be significantly scaled up, with new public and private sources of capital restructured through financing mechanisms – including debt financing, long-term concessional finance, guarantees and catalytic finance – that lower the costs of capital.  

COP28 and the Global Stocktake 

The first Global Stocktake (GST), concluding at COP28, will inform the next round of NDCs that countries should submit in 2025, with targets for 2035. Global ambition in the next round of NDCs must bring GHG emissions in 2035 to levels consistent with 2°C and 1.5°C pathways, while compensating for excess emissions until levels consistent with these pathways are achieved. 

The preparation of the next round of NDCs offers the opportunity for low- and middle-income countries to develop national roadmaps with ambitious development and climate policies, and targets for which finance and technology needs are clearly specified. COP28 should ensure that international support is provided for the development of such roadmaps. 

Carbon dioxide removal 

The report finds that delaying GHG emissions reductions will increase future reliance on carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide removal is already being deployed, mainly through afforestation, reforestation and forest management. Current direct removals through land-based methods are estimated at 2 GtCO2e annually. However, least-cost pathways assume considerable increases in both conventional and novel carbon dioxide removal – such as direct air carbon capture and storage. 

Achieving higher levels of carbon dioxide removal remains uncertain and associated with risks: around land competition, protection of tenure and rights and other factors. Upscaling of novel carbon dioxide removal methods are associated with different types of risks, including that the technical, economic and political requirements for large-scale deployment may not materialize in time.  

2023 WMO Report on Global Sea-Level Rise and Implications: Key Facts and Figures

 April 2023 saw the release of 2023 WMO Report on Global Sea-Level Rise and Implications: Key Facts and Figures. It was based on:

WMO flagship reports
•    Global State of the Climate 2020 and
•    Provisional state of the Global climate 2021 and
IPCC Reports:
•    The physical Science Basis 2021 Summary for Policy Makers and
•    Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate 2019.

Key Messages:

• Sea-level rise threatens several low-lying small islands and high-population coastal cities.
• It is a major threat for countries like Netherlands, Bangladesh, India and China some of which comprise large coastal populations.
• Several big cities on all continents are threatened, such as Shanghai, Dhaka, Bangkok, Jakarta, Mumbai, Maputo, Lagos, London, Copenhagen, New York, Los Angeles, and Buenos Aires.
• There are significant specific impacts and challenges to those populations faced with sea-level rise living in coastal urban areas in least developed and low-middle income countries.
• It is a major economic, social and humanitarian challenge.
• Sea-level rise threatens coastal farmlands and water reserves and resilience of infrastructures as well as human lives and livelihoods.
• The impacts of average sea-level rise are boosted by storm surges and tidal variations.
• The speed of the melting of the largest global ice mass Antarctica has uncertainties.
• Human influence was very likely the main driver of these sea-level increases since at least 1971.
• The global ocean has warmed faster over the past century than since the end of the last deglacial transition (around 11,000 years ago).
• Thermal expansion explained 50% of sea-level rise during 1971–2018. Ice loss from glaciers contributed 22%, ice sheets 20% and changes in land-water storage 8%.
• The rate of ice-sheet loss increased by a factor of four between 1992–1999 and 2010–2019.
• Sea-level will continue to rise over the 21st century but sea-level rise is not globally uniform and varies regionally.
• Over the next 2000 years, global mean sea-level will rise by about 2 to 3 m if warming is limited to 1.5°C, 2 to 6 m if limited to 2°C and 19 to 22 m with 5°C of warming
• Continued sea-level rise will increase risks to food security in vulnerable regions between 1.5 C and 2 C Global warming level.
• Sea-level rise poses a distinctive and severe adaptation challenge as it implies dealing with slow onset changes and increased frequency and magnitude of extreme sea-level events which will escalate in the coming decades.

E-Waste Management and Handling Rules 2023

E-waste is a term used to cover items of all types of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and their parts that have been discarded as waste. E-waste includes items such as mobile phones, TV appliances, computers, laptops, tablets, home entertainment and stereo systems and white goods (fridges, washing machines, dryers, etc.).

The main feature of EEE is rapid obsolescence of models. New gadgets and new models appear almost daily, and users discard the older models as junk, even when they are in working condition. As a result, e-waste is globally one of the fastest growing waste streams.

E-waste contains many hazardous materials like lead, copper, zinc, and aluminium, flame- retardants, plastic casings, cables, etc. If e-waste is disposed in landfills, burned outdoors, or recycled in other inappropriate ways, the toxic substances can contaminate the air, water, and soil, affecting all living creatures.

India produced about 3.23 m tonnes of e-waste in 2019, making it the third largest producer of e-waste after the US and China. By 2050, India could be producing 160 tonnes of e-waste. In India, most e-waste ends up in the informal or the unorganized sector. In addition to local e-waste, there is also e-waste imported from the industrialized countries. In the lanes of Delhi and other towns, a large number of poor people, including women and small children, break open these gadgets to recover valuable parts and materials. With no protective equipment and poor working conditions, these workers are exposed to a cocktail of toxic chemicals and suffer physical injuries, chronic ailments like asthma, skin and eye diseases, and even life threatening diseases.

When e-waste is not handled properly or is burnt, the following deadly substances (capable of causing a wide range of health disorders and even death) are released: Arsenic, Barium, Beryllium, Brominated flame retardants, Cadmium, Chlorofluorocarbons, Chromium, Dioxins and furans, Lead, Mercury, Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and Selenium

Responding to the problem, the Indian Government introduced the E-Waste Management and Handling Rules in 2012. An important aspect of the Rules was the provision of Extended Producer Responsibility.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) has been defined as ‘a policy principle that extends the responsibilities of the manufacturer of the product to various parts of the product’s life cycle, and especially to the take-back, recovery and final disposal of the product.’

Under EPR, the producer’s responsibilities include:

• Liability for proven environmental damages caused by the product in question. The extent of the liability may embrace the whole life-cycle of the product.

• Financial Responsibility: The producer will cover all or part of the costs for the collection, recycling or final disposal of the products he is manufacturing.

• Informational Responsibility: The producer must supply information on the environmental properties of the products he is manufacturing.

The E-Waste Rules were replaced by new rules in 2023. These rules launched a new EPR regime for e-waste recycling. The salient features of new rules are:

• They are applicable to every manufacturer, producer, refurbisher, dismantler and recycler.

• All the manufacturers, producers, refurbishers, and recyclers are required to register on portal developed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).  

• No entity shall carry out any business without registration and also not deal with any unregistered entity.  

• Authorization has now been replaced by Registration through online portal and only a manufacturer, producer, refurbisher or recycler requires Registration.

• Schedule I has been expanded to include 106 items of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) under the EPR regime.

• Producers of notified EEE, have been given annual E-Waste Recycling targets based on the generation from the previously sold EEE or based on sales of EEE as the case may be. Target may be made stable for 2 years and starting from 60% for the year 2023-2024 and 2024-25; 70% for the year 2025-26 and 2026-27 and 80% for the year 2027-28 and 2028-29 and onwards.

• Management of solar PV modules /panels/ cells has been added.

• The quantity recycled will be computed on the basis of end products, so as to avoid any false claims.  

• Provision for generation and transaction of EPR Certificate has been introduced. 

• Provisions for environment compensation and verification & audit has been introduced.

• Provision for constitution of Steering Committee to oversee the overall implementation of these rules.

• Provision for reduction of hazardous substances in manufacturing of EEE has been provided. It mandates that every producer of EEE and their components shall ensure that their products do not contain lead, mercury and other hazardous substances beyond the maximum prescribed concentration.  

• Provision for recognition and registration, skill development, monitoring and ensuring safety and health, of workers involved in dismantling and recycling of e-waste.

The Government further notified the E-Waste (Management) Second Amendment Rules in July 2023. These rules focus on refrigerants generated during the manufacture and end-of-life of refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment. The newly introduced provisions highlight the importance of adopting approved destruction technologies for managing refrigerants. CPCB will issue guidelines to oversee the proper implementation of these technologies. The Rules also provide for the generation of EPR certificates for multiple end products of recycling as per the CPCB guidelines.

2023 UN Food Systems Summit +2 in Rome

The UN hosted the inaugural Food Systems Summit on September 23, 2021, uniting global leaders in a drive to find novel ways to produce healthy fare for the world’s growing population without harming the planet. It was a virtual meeting held during the UN General Assembly in New York. The summit brought together governments, businesses, farmers, indigenous peoples, youth, academics, and citizens to produce a detailed roadmap to a world where good food is affordable and accessible and produced with minimal damage to the natural systems that sustain life on Earth. The UN Food Systems Summit saw over 51,000 people tuned in from 193 countries, all ready to tackle global hunger, climate change and biodiversity loss for true food systems transformation. Five primary action areas emerged for accelerating action to deliver on the 2030 Agenda through food systems: 

• Nourish All People 

• Boost Nature-Based Solutions of Production 

• Build Resilience to Vulnerabilities, Shocks, and Stresses 

• Advance Equitable Livelihoods, Decent Work, & Empowered Communities

• Means of Implementation.

The UN Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment took place in Rome in July 2023. The purpose of this meeting was to build on the momentum of the 2021 Food Systems Summit and create a conducive space for countries to review progress on the commitments to action and identify successes, enduring bottlenecks and priorities in order to close the implementation gap by effectively and efficiently utilizing the Means of Implementation for food systems transformation. 

2000 participants from 180 countries explored the challenges and opportunities to transform agrifood systems. Over three days of deliberations, participants advocated, among other measures, for decent work opportunities, respect for Indigenous Peoples’ food systems and more extensive social protection systems.

The meeting closed with the UN Secretary-General’s Call to Action for accelerated Food Systems Transformation. This focuses on six concrete objectives: 

• embedding food systems strategies in national policies; 

• establishing food systems governance with a whole-of-society approach; 

• investing in research, data, innovation, and technology capacities; 

• promoting business engagement and accountability for sustainability; 

• including full participation of marginalized groups; 

• ensuring long-term, concessional finance for food systems transformation.  

The next meeting, the UN Food Systems Summit +4, will be held in 2025. 

UN Releases Report: Times of crisis, times of change: Science for accelerating transformations to sustainable development

In September 2023, the UN released Report: 'Times of crisis, times of change: Science for accelerating transformations to sustainable development'. 

In the outcome document of the Rio+20 Conference, in 2012, entitled “The future we want”, and again in “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, in 2015, UN Member States decided that the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development would be informed by the Global Sustainable Development Report. In the Ministerial Declaration of the 2016 Forum, Member States decided that the report would be produced quadrennially by an independent group of scientists appointed by the UN Secretary-General and comprising 15 experts representing a variety of backgrounds, scientific disciplines and institutions, with geographical and gender balance.

This Report is the second quadrennial Global Sustainable Development Report prepared by an independent group of scientists. The first report, The future is now: Science for achieving sustainable development, was published in 2019.

The Global Sustainable Development Report 2023

"Times of Crisis, Times of Change: Science for Accelerating Transformations to Sustainable Development", the 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR), finds that at this critical juncture, midway to 2030, incremental and fragmented change is insufficient to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the remaining seven years. Implementation of the 2030 Agenda requires the active mobilization of political leadership and ambition for science-based transformations. This must be achieved globally - leaving no country, society or person behind. The report is an invitation to embrace transformations with the urgency needed to accelerate progress towards the SDGs.

The GSDR 2023 highlights key transformations needed in different sectors and provides key findings from the literature, practical examples and tools for progress towards the SDGs. It provides a stylized model to help unpack and understand the transformation process over time and outline the roles of different levers in facilitating various stages of transformation through a systematic and structured approach. As history has shown, transformations are inevitable, and this report emphasizes that deliberate and desirable transformations are possible - and, indeed, necessary.

Key Messages

Context at the half-way point to 2030

• At the half-way point toward 2030 the SDGs are far off track. Of 36 targets reviewed in the report, only 2 are on track to be achieved, while progress on eight is deteriorating. 

• The crises that have wiped out years of SDG progress are interrelated, fueling intensities, but connections could be turned into opportunities. A spate of shocks - the COVID-19 pandemic, conflicts in many regions including the war in Ukraine, a cost-of-living and debt crisis, and climate related disasters – are entwined through environmental, economic and social systems that create intensifying SDG backslides. The same interconnections amplifying the crises offer opportunities for integrated recovery strategies and for addressing systemic risks.

• Leaders must address medium- and long-term trends that are having systemic effects across the SDGs while dealing with immediate crises. Addressing climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, demographic change, digitalization, economic inequalities, and violent conflict will avoid undermining advances made in the short term and build resilience.

• There is rising awareness and commitments to the SDGs, but this needs to translate into action. 

Evidence to inform the way forward

• The SDGs are interlinked and must be approached holistically based on context specific analysis. 

• New scenario studies point to actions for transformation that if applied together through the six entry points put forward in the 2019 GSDR could significantly accelerate SDG achievement. 

• Capacity building in all countries is needed to support decisive and transformative action through any entry point. 

• Strategies for the SDGs must identify and minimize impediments and support promising solutions specific to different phases of transformation – emergence, acceleration and stabilization.  

• Actions must simultaneously be taken to destabilize, break-down, and phase out unsustainable practices. 

• Transformation to sustainable pathways should be rooted in science. 

Calls to action for transformations

• Transformation is possible, and inevitable. Science driven transformations are urgently needed to enable progress toward the SDGs. 

• UN Member States are urged to establish an SDG Transformation Framework for Accelerated Action. This framework would consist of 6 elements: 1) National Plans for Transformative Accelerated Action grounded in science and inclusive processes to identify and harness SDG synergies and reduce negative transboundary spillovers; 2) local and industry-specific planning to feed into national plans; 3) initiatives through the Addis Ababa Action Agenda or otherwise to increase fiscal space, including tax reforms, debt restructuring and relief and increased engagement from international financial institutions for SDG implementation; 4) investing in SDG related data, science-based tools and policy learning with attention to closing SDG data and research and development spending gaps; 5) establishing partnerships to strengthen the science-policy- society interface and 6) investing in measures to improve accountability of governments and other stakeholders.

• All countries need to build capacities essential for transformation at individual, institutional and network levels. 

• Governments and other actors need to steer transformations by activating synergies in each of the six entry-points - human well-being and capabilities, sustainable and just economies, food systems and nutrition patterns, energy decarbonization and universal access, urban and peri-urban development, and the global environmental commons. 

• The international community needs to coordinate to improve critical underlying conditions for SDG implementation. Disruptive trends in climate change, rising inequality, biodiversity loss, demographic change and digitalization need to be countered and shaped with actions at all levels in solidarity. Coordinated action should especially focus on: 1) preventing and avoiding violent conflict; 2) opening the necessary fiscal space for action; 3) ensuring meaningful inclusion and engagement of marginalized groups; 4) making digital transformation work for the SDGs; and 5) achieving gender equality through legislation, banning harmful practices, education, and reproductive health.

• The full benefits of science as a public good should be harnessed for the SDGs. This involves increasing investment in science and innovation systems, especially in low- and middle-income countries; funding and rewarding science that enables the SDGs; as well as promoting open access to scientific research, publications and data and strengthening mechanisms for knowledge sharing including with support for the GSDR.