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Few Environmental Terms

The document outlines seven essential environmental terms relevant to the ongoing COP 29 in Baku, including climate change, carbon footprint, and carbon neutrality. It emphasizes the significance of these terms in understanding international climate agreements and actions aimed at mitigating human-caused climate impacts. The document also provides a brief history of the UNFCCC and its role in global climate discussions since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.

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4 views

Few Environmental Terms

The document outlines seven essential environmental terms relevant to the ongoing COP 29 in Baku, including climate change, carbon footprint, and carbon neutrality. It emphasizes the significance of these terms in understanding international climate agreements and actions aimed at mitigating human-caused climate impacts. The document also provides a brief history of the UNFCCC and its role in global climate discussions since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.

Uploaded by

nitinsaroj9166
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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7 must-know Environmental Terms

As the COP 29 has begun in Baku, here are 7 key environment related
terms that you must know.

In 1992, at the Rio Earth Summit, 154 countries signed a multilateral treaty called the UNFCCC.
Knowledge Nugget: 7 Must-Know Environmental Terms

Subject: Environment
(Relevance: UPSC often asks questions about key environmental phenomena or terms, both
directly and indirectly. Thus, having clarity about some important environmental terms
becomes important.)

Why in the news?


The 29th edition of the Conference of the Parties (COP) began in Baku, Azerbaijan, on
Monday (November 11). It is an international climate meeting organised annually by the
United Nations. COP is short for Conference of the Parties. ‘Parties’ refers to (now) 198
countries that have joined the international treaty called the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC). ‘Parties’ to the treaty have pledged to take voluntary actions to
prevent “dangerous anthropogenic [human-caused] interference with the climate system.”
In this context, let’s understand some environment-related key terms that will be hitting the
headlines regarding COP 29.

Brief History of COP


In 1992, at the Rio Earth Summit, 154 countries signed a multilateral treaty called
the UNFCCC. It aimed to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations “at a level that would
prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human-induced) interference with the climate system.”
The treaty came into force two years later, and since then, countries which are part of the
UNFCCC, meet every year at different venues.
Key Terms

01 Climate Change

According to the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), “Climate change
refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g., by using statistical
tests) by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties and that persists for an
extended period, typically decades or longer.”
Alternatively, UNFCCC in its Article 1, defines the phenomena as ‘a change of climate
which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the
global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over
comparable time periods.’

02 Carbon footprint

It is the amount of greenhouse gases-especially carbon dioxide-released directly or indirectly


by an individual or institution into the atmosphere. It refers to the quantity of GHG produced
in our daily life as a result of the combustion of fuels for electricity, heating, transportation,
and other purposes.
Carbon dioxide retains heat released by both the sun and the earth's surface and releases that
heat into the atmosphere. As the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation continues, high
concentrations of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, threaten to elevate the
planet's average surface temperature to unacceptable levels, resulting in life-threatening
consequences.
03 Carbon markets

Carbon markets allow the trade of carbon credits with the overall objective of bringing down
emissions. These markets create incentives to reduce emissions or improve energy efficiency.
They allow countries, or industries, to earn carbon credits for the greenhouse gas emission
reductions they make in excess of their targets. These carbon credits can be traded to the
highest bidder in exchange for money. The buyers of carbon credits can show the emission
reductions as their own and use them to meet their reduction targets.
For example, an industrial unit that outperforms the emission standards stands to gain credits.
Another unit that is struggling to attain the prescribed standards can buy these credits and
show compliance with these standards. The unit that did better on the standards earns money
by selling credits, while the buying unit is able to fulfil its operating obligations.

04 Carbon capture and storage (CCS)

CCS refers to a host of different technologies that capture carbon dioxide emissions from
large point sources like refineries or power plants and trap them beneath the Earth. It is
important to note that CCS is different from carbon dioxide removal (CDR), where carbon
dioxide is removed from the atmosphere.
Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) is a step further than CCS and uses the
captured carbon in the production of goods such as alcohols, biofuels, plastics or concrete.

05 Carbon-neutrality

Carbon-neutrality, also referred to as net-zero, is a state in which a country’s emissions are


compensated by absorption and removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
Absorption of the emissions can be increased by creating more carbon sinks such as forests,
while removal of gases from the atmosphere requires futuristic technologies such as carbon
capture and storage.
Interestingly, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has marked 2050 as
the deadline by which the world must reach net zero if it wants to limit global warming to 1.5
degrees Celsius
06 Geo-engineering

Geo-engineering refers to any large-scale attempt to alter the Earth’s natural climate system
to counter the adverse impacts of global warming. Two broad geoengineering options are
being explored: Solar Radiation Management (SRM) and Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR)
technologies.
Solar Radiation Management (SRM), in which materials are proposed to be deployed in
Space to reflect incoming solar rays and prevent them from reaching Earth.
Then there are Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) technologies, which include Carbon Capture
and Sequestration (CCS). While they offer quick-fix solutions for reducing emissions or
temperatures, they are not particularly viable. The only method being tried out in practice is
CCS.

07 Greenhouse gases

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are those gases in the Earth’s atmosphere that trap heat. They
allow sunlight to pass through the atmosphere but prevent the heat that sunlight brings from
returning into space. Essentially, GHGs act like a blanket that envelopes our planet and
insulates Earth from the cold of space. This process of maintaining a warmer temperature is
called the greenhouse effect.
The most notable GHGs are water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, and nitrous
oxide. These gases occur naturally and are a boon for the planet — in their absence, there
wouldn’t be the greenhouse effect without which there wouldn’t be liquid water and any form
of life.

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