Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC): Challenge and Solution : Daily Current Affairs

Date: 27/10/2022

Relevance: GS-3: Climate Change and International Conventions.

Key Phrases: Climate Change, Like-Minded Developing Countries, COP (Conference of Parties), UNFCCC, Developed Countries, Mitigation Efforts, Global Warming, Climate Adaptation Cost, Credibility, UNEP, Climate Challenge, GHGs Footprint, Carbon Neutrality, Net Zero Emission.

Context:

A joint-ministerial statement was endorsed by the LMDC Ministers during the meeting hosted by the Plurinational State of Bolivia ahead of the upcoming 27th Climate Change Conference of Parties.

Key Highlights:

UNEP’s Adaptation Gap Report 2021 expected that annual adaptation costs in developing countries are estimated at USD 70 billion.
Almost three-quarters of nations have some adaptation plans in place, but financing and implementation fall far short of what is needed.
The UNEP report also underlined that the challenge ahead is not only in intensifying funding but also in channeling the money to projects that achieve the desired outcomes.

Like-Minded Developing Countries

Like Minded-Group of Developing Countries (LMDC) is a group of developing countries who organize themselves as a block negotiators in international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization.
This group represents more than 50% of the world's population from Asia and other regions.
The member countries of the Like Minded Group are Algeria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, China, Cuba, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.

27th Conference of Parties (COP27)

The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP27, is the 27th United Nations Climate Change conference.
It is scheduled to be held in the city of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt from November 6 to November 18, 2022.
COP27 will bring governments together to accelerate global efforts to confront the climate crisis.
It is an important meeting because the latest science shows that climate change is moving much faster than we are, pushing ecosystems and communities to their limits.
The Conference of Parties comes under the United Nations Climate Change Framework Convention (UNFCCC) which was formed in 1994.
The UNFCCC was established to work towards “stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.”

Issues of LMDC:

Failures to deliver on the commitments:
- On the issue of delivery of climate finance, developed countries agreed in 2010 to mobilise USD 100 billion per year by 2020. Regrettably, here too they have fallen short of their agreement.
- In Paris, the 2020 timeline to deliver on the USD100 billion was shifted to 2025, with no assurance that it would be reached or with higher ambition, while at the same time developing countries are requested to raise their ambition on climate actions.
Inequitable call for Net Zero by 2050:
- This new ‘goal’ which is being advanced runs counter to the Paris Agreement and is anti-equity and against climate justice.
- Demands for ‘Net zero’ emissions for all countries by 2050 will exacerbate further the existing inequities between developed and developing countries.
Inequity in fund allocations for global warming mitigation efforts:
- Climate adaptation costs in the developing world amount to around $70 billion annually.
- The challenge ahead is not only in intensifying funding but also in channeling the money to projects that achieve the desired outcomes.

UNEP

It was established by Maurice Strong after the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in June 1972 and headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya.
It is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system.
UNEP hosts the secretariats of several multilateral environmental agreements and research bodies, including The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), The Minamata Convention on Mercury, The Convention on Migratory Species and The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
In 1988, the World Meteorological Organization and UNEP established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Adaptation Gap Report

The UNEP Adaptation Gap Report (AGR) series provides an annual science-based assessment of the global progress on adaptation planning, financing, and implementation.
UNEP has published the AGR since 2014, with the aim to inform the climate negotiations among UN Member States.
It also explores options for enhancing and advancing national and global adaptation efforts and provides in-depth analysis of selected issues of interest.

Way Forward

For developing countries to enhance their ambition, developed countries must provide enhanced support.
Developed countries must honour their long-standing obligations under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, including on the provision of climate finance, technology transfer and capacity building to the developing countries.

Conclusion:

Recognizing the current challenges faced by developing countries requires intensified multilateral cooperation, not intensified global economic and geopolitical competition and trade wars.

Source: Indian Express

Mains Question:

What are the issues of Like-Minded Developing Countries? Suggest the measures to solve those issues? (150 Words)