Climate Ambition Summit 2020

On 12 December, the United Nations, United Kingdom, and France, in partnership with Chile and Italy, will co-host a virtual Climate Ambition Summit 2020 to mark the fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Paris Agreement.

Key Highlights:

• The summit aims to bring together leaders to make new commitments to tackle climate change and deliver on the goals of the Paris Agreement.
• The Summit is positioned as a “sprint to Glasgow,” where the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is scheduled to take place from 1–12 November 2021.
• The Summit will provide leaders with a global platform to showcase commitments to tackle climate change which will be under the three pillars of the Paris Agreement: mitigation, adaptation, and finance commitments.

Commitments made under Climate Ambition Summit 2020: 

• The United Kingdom pledged to double its climate finance contribution to USD 15.5 billion over the next five years.
• The European Investment Bank announced a goal of 50% of investments going toward the climate and environment sectors by 2025.
• China’s commitment to lower its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by over 65% from 2005 levels by 2030 and the EU’s commitment to reduce GHG emissions by at least 55% from 1990 levels by 2030.
• The ambitious commitments will take the shape of new Nationally Determined Contributions, Long-Term Strategies setting out a pathway to net zero emissions.
• It also called for climate finance commitments to support the most vulnerable and ambitious adaptation plans and underlying policies.

India stands in its commitment to Paris Agreement:

• India is not only on track to achieve its Paris Agreement targets but to exceed them beyond expectations.
• India has reduced our emission intensity by 21% over 2005 levels.

• India’s solar capacity has grown from 2.63 GigaWatts in 2014 to 36 GigaWatts in 2020.
• India’s renewable energy capacity is the fourth largest in the world.
• It will reach 175 GigaWatts before 2022. And, we have an even more ambitious target now – 450 GigaWatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030.
• We have also succeeded in expanding our forest cover and safeguarding our biodiversity. And, on the world stage, India has pioneered two major initiatives:

1. The International Solar Alliance, and
2. Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.

What is the Paris Agreement?

• The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016.
• Goal: Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
• To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate-neutral world by mid-century.
• The Paris Agreement is a landmark in the multilateral climate change process.

How does the Paris Agreement work?

• Implementation of the Paris Agreement requires economic and social transformation, based on the best available science.
• The Paris Agreement works on a 5- year cycle of increasingly ambitious climate action carried out by countries.
• By 2020, countries submit their plans for climate action known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

How are countries supporting one another?

The Paris Agreement provides a framework for 

• Financial,
• Technical and
• Capacity Building support to those countries who need it.

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