{"id":94074,"date":"2022-04-21T11:28:37","date_gmt":"2022-04-21T05:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.icsf.net\/?post_type=samudra&p=94074"},"modified":"2022-04-21T11:28:37","modified_gmt":"2022-04-21T05:58:37","slug":"no-cop-for-fishers","status":"publish","type":"samudra","link":"https:\/\/www.icsf.net\/samudra\/no-cop-for-fishers\/","title":{"rendered":"No COP for fishers"},"content":{"rendered":"
As climate change continues to impact fishing communities, the international climate regime needs to do more to safeguard the community. At COP 26, it did not<\/strong><\/p>\n This article is by Sibi Arasu <\/strong>(arasusibi@gmail.com), an independent journalist based in Bangalore, India<\/p>\n Last November, 120 world leaders and over 40,000 participants gathered in Glasgow for two weeks of meetings of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a crucial opportunity to address the threats of global warming. Yet, even as representatives from shrinking island nations facing rising sea levels and countries where cyclonic disasters are becoming routine were taking centrestage at official negotiations and events, the global political community still seemed reluctant to take decisive action. Mia Mottley, prime minister of Barbados, laid down the situation clearly when she said in the first few days of the 26th session of the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP 26): \u201cA 2\u00b0 Celsius rise in temperature would be a \u2018death sentence\u2019 for island nations. We can work with whoever is ready to go, because the train is ready to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n Advisory groups and scientists have made it clear that immediate action to reduce emissions and improve adaptation methods is the need of the hour. A case in point is the recent assessment report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released on 28 February 2022. It states that fishers are among the most vulnerable communities affected by climate-driven changes in marine resources and ecosystem services.<\/p>\n … the climate summit in Glasgow did provide a stage for announcements of funding, mitigation and adaptation targets, especially emissions reduction pledges by nations and groups of countries<\/strong><\/p>\n The report observes that rising sea levels, increases in sea-surface temperatures, ocean acidification and changes in the distribution of fish stocks are all having an extremely adverse impact on fishers, especially small-scale fishers. The jury is still out on whether the global political community is taking these warnings as seriously as it should.<\/p>\n Business as usual<\/strong><\/p>\n Even though the issue of fishers, let alone small-scale fishers, was not explicitly addressed, the climate summit in Glasgow did provide a stage for announcements of funding, mitigation and adaptation targets, especially emissions reduction pledges by nations and groups of countries. If acted on, these can potentially control global warming, to an extent.<\/p>\n Several key decisions were made at the summit. All parties to the UNFCCC are expected to provide improved Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) later this year at the 27th summit in Egypt. It was ultimately acknowledged in the final COP decision that fossil fuels are a cause of global warming. Even though this is apparent, it was the first time that fossil fuels were named in a COP decision since the signing of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. The proportion of climate finance is set to be doubled by 2025, and 104 countries promised to cut their methane emissions by signing a \u2018methane pledge\u2019. (Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that traps heat 28 times more effectively than carbon dioxide in the short term. Agriculture\u2014mainly livestock farming\u2014the energy sector and landfills are the largest emitters.)<\/p>\n
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