Paris Agreement on climate

The Paris Agreement on climate, adopted on Saturday by the member countries of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, creates an enhanced transparency framework that requires all countries to submit a national inventory of greenhouse gas emissions arising from human activity using standardised methodologies accepted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. External monitoring of the national pledge on climate action to “track progress made in implementing and achieving the Nationally DeterminedContributions (NDCs)”, a technical review of the emissions data submitted, and participation in a facilitative, multilateral consideration of progress are among the provisions in the Agreement, all of which are significant for India, since many activities involving carbon emissions involve policy made or implemented by the State governments, and not just the Centre. In the voluntary pledge — the Intended NDCs (INDCs) — submitted to the UNFCCC, India lists investments in agriculture, water resources, coastal regions, health and disaster management, besides major goals such as reducing emissions intensity of the GDP by 33-35 per cent over 2005 levels by 2030.