Pre-Paris: What every development professional should know about climate change

At the end of a packed year of big development events, COP21 looms. Climate change impact on ecosystems and livelihoods will affect the work of professionals in WASH to education to urban planning, and not one sector has been left out of the call to mainstream it in programming and strategies. Most countries have already committed to specific target emissions in negotiations over the last year, although advocates argue they’re still short of what’s needed to keep the earth below its 2 degrees Celsius threshold. Financing remains a sticking point as the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Paris approaches — which will, in theory, lead to a new and more ambitious deal on greenhouse gas emission targets. But the road to COP21 is fraught with unfamiliar terms for those non-climate experts now tuning in to the debate. What are they negotiating in Paris? What’s the deal with climate finance? We already have something called the Green Climate Fund, right? Devex scoured the latest reports and made a few calls to climate experts to bring you the key terms and phrases that’ll save you the next time climate change comes up in conversation: 1. Net zero emissions. (The three little words to throw into any climate conversation). This means allowing some form of fossil fuel use, but ensuring it’s cancelled out by an equivalent amount of carbon sequestration. This may be more easily agreed upon by more parties, particularly rich nations. But climate experts caution on this, given the impact it may have on developing countries, whose land may be exploited by rich nations to cancel out their emissions. 2. INDC. (The one climate change acronym you have to know). In preparation for Paris, countries around the globe have agreed to publicly outline what post-2020 climate actions they intend to take under a new international agreement, known as their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions. Greenhouse gas emission targets for each country are to replace the long-expired Kyoto Protocol. The Paris deal is expected be more ambitious than Kyoto; all countries are expected to take on emissions targets, including the United States, which opted out of the first treaty. 3. Ratchet mechanism. (The term to impress your climate change expert friend). Climate advocates are pushing for what policy advisers call “ratchet mechanism,” or encouraging countries to steadily increase their emissions targets after Paris. A long-term goal on emissions is also on the wish list, with an end goal of complete decarbonization or end of fossil fuel use by the end of the century — or earlier. 4. “On behalf of…” (To prove you’re clued in about the climate blame game). Watch out for the issue of equity to arise when accounting for countries’ greenhouse gas emissions. China, for example, is pegged as having the biggest emissions to date, but the argument can be made that the country is actually emitting GHG “on behalf” of industrialized countries who base their energy-intensive industries there. A country could therefore proclaim low levels of production of greenhouse gases — but maintain high levels of carbon-intensive consumption. 5. Mitigation and adaptation (When in doubt, these two words will do the trick). The most popular interventions from the international community are through climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. The former includes the promotion of clean technologies and phasing out of fossil fuels, while the latter aims at supporting countries to adapt to the impacts of climate change through building response capacities in communities and climate risk management. A joint report released by six major multilateral development banks in June shows a huge percentage — or 82 percent — of their $28.3 billion in climate finance money in 2014 was channeled to climate mitigation efforts as opposed to the remaining 18 percent for climate adaptation activities. 6. Climate finance. (The elephant in the room). The envisioned $100 billion Green Climate Fund set up in 2010 — and hoped to become the “fund of funds” — has only 10 percent of the amount in pledges at the moment. So, plenty of questions remain about where the money will come from to help developing countries cope with the effects of climate change. Wealthy countries are adamant in refusing to shoulder all the finance requirements of developing countries, calling on input from emerging economies as well as private investment. But in a chart compiled by The Carbon Brief, a specialist media platform on climate science and energy policy, pressure is mounting for developed countries to double their climate finance pledges by 2030. 7. Where does all the money go? (Surely you’re already familiar with this question in some capacity). A look at MDB’s report shows the biggest recipients by dollar amount are countries in South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and select countries in Europe and Central Asia. Project spending trends as per CFU data, meanwhile, show emerging middle-income countries benefitting most, with the top five being Brazil, Mexico, Morocco, India and Indonesia based on amount of funding approved to date. But are they the most vulnerable? Not exactly. Of the 15 most vulnerable places to climate change — or those referred to by the latest World Risk Report as being highly exposed to natural hazards and lacking the necessary structures to cope with them — four are found in Oceania, four in Southeast Asia and four in Central America. Only the Philippines is included in the top 10 recipients of climate spending under CFU data. The MDB report’s per region breakdown shows only 10 percent of its total climate finance in 2014 went to East Asia and the Pacific, whose countries include some of the most vulnerable to climate change — like Vanuatu, Philippines and Tonga. Whether you’re a seasoned expert or budding development professional — check out more news, analysis and advice online to guide your career and professional development, and subscribe to Doing Good to receive top international development career and recruitment news every week.