Climate change affects relations between states and geopolitics. Until now, attention has predominantly been on the geopolitics of decarbonization – the shifting energy supply, new resource dependencies and mitigation finance. But there must be an equal focus on how climate change costs and damages are shifting geopolitics – arising in connection with economic decline, uninhabitability and uneven impact distribution.
“National Adaptation Plans” (NAPs) are developed by parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Work on them began in 2010 at COP16 in Cancun as part of a diplomatic process known as the Cancun Adaptation Framework.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines negative emissions as the “removal of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the atmosphere by deliberate human activities, i.e., in addition to the removal that would occur via natural carbon cycle processes.”
The term “Phase Down” refers to structured reduction in the use of fossil fuels, while “Phase Out” refers to its complete cessation. Fossil energy is produced by burning fossil fuels – primarily coal, oil, and natural gas – which releases greenhouse gases such as CO2.
The concept of planetary boundaries was first introduced in 2009. It describes the resilience of our planet and analyzes human influence on various parts of the Earth system.
The Santiago Network for Loss and Damage is an association of various international organizations, networks, initiatives, and institutions aiming to address and combat losses and damages caused by climate change.
Here, the term “subsidy” refers to financial contributions or support provided to produce, process, sell, or consume fossil fuels.
For years, small island states in the Pacific and other nations particularly affected by climate change had demanded support for addressing climate-related damages and losses. As a result, the “Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with the impacts of climate change” (WIM) was established as an institution under the UNFCCC in November 2013.
