The Paris Agreement-2015

The Paris Agreement, following the 2015 Paris Climate Conference 2015 is about UN negotiated agreement on climate with the aim of keeping the average global warming below 2°C, above the pre-industrial levels. France played a key role in hosting this conference to save the world from the repercussions - risks and impacts of climate change. It is the aim of the conference to restrict the warming at 1.5°C. The countries participated presented their own National Climate Action Plans to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The progress made by the countries will be tracked through a robust accountability and transparency system.

Governments have agreed to strengthen societies’ ability to deal with the impacts of the climate change, and developing countries will be provided with international support for adaptation of the Agreement by the developed countries.

Developed countries will support developing countries by mobilizing funds of of USD 100 billion per year collectively, until the 2025. The Agreement will be ratified by 55 countries, (giving voluntary target for emission reduction) which account for 55% of the world’s GHG emissions The Agreement is due to enter into force in 2020. Meet every 5 years.   

The top 6 countries which are emitting GHG are: China, United Sates, European Union, India, Russian Federation and Japan.

If France could manage have carbon free electric grids in just 11 years, why not other countries? Policy makers should say NO for fossil-fuel based power. USE ONLY RENEWABLE ENERGY mix, sources, viz. solar, wind and hydro. Until such time, use standardized, modular nuclear power plants and go for nuclear power (fission or fusion) which is also a clean energy source. Enough research is done, now the time to scale-up the technology and implement in a massive scale.  

Water management issues, India

90% of India’s water withdrawal is for use in agriculture and livestock, often extracted by tube wells powered from the grid and drawing from groundwater reserves. High rates of population and economic growth, along with highly inefficient patterns of water use in the agricultural sector, are putting severe strain on India’s water resources. 

Major policy decision needs to be taken to improve upon or preserve the water resources. Some of the actions may be:

1.     Compulsory rain water harvesting

2.     Recycling of water

3.   Connecting the rivers to take water from the northern rivers (normally flooded due to melting of ice during summer) to southern states which suffer from water shortage during summer. 

4.     Judicious use of water in agricultural sector.