THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- November 21, 2016- Topic 1
The UN conference on climate change held in Marrakech, with an emphasis on
raising the commitment of all countries to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions, is particularly significant as it provided an opportunity to
communicate concerns about the future climate policy of the U.S. It would be
untenable for the U.S., with a quarter of all cumulative fossil fuel emissions,
to renege on its promise to assist vulnerable and developing nations with
climate funding, technology transfer and capacity-building under Donald Trump’s
presidency. As the Marrakech Action Proclamation issued at the close of the
conference emphasises, the world needs all countries to work together to close
the gap between their intended reduction of carbon emissions and what needs to
be done to keep the rise of the global average temperature well below 2°C in
this century. The Paris Agreement on climate change was forged on the consensus
that man-made climate change does have a scientific basis, that the developed
countries are responsible for accumulated emissions, and that future action
should focus on shifting all nations to a clean energy path. Not much progress
was made at Marrakech on raising the $100 billion a year that is intended to
help the poorer nations. Political commitment and resource mobilisation will be
crucial to meet targets for mitigation of emissions and adaptation.
India is in a particularly difficult situation as it has the twin
challenges of growing its economy to meet the development aspirations of a
large population, and cutting emissions. National GHG levels are small per
capita, but when added up they put India in the third place, going by data from
the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center in the U.S. As a signatory to
the Paris Agreement, which has provisions to monitor emissions and raise
targets based on a review, pressure on India to effect big cuts is bound to
increase. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will hear from the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2018 on what impact an additional
warming of 1.5°C could have on the planet and what can be done to ensure it is
pegged at this level. The pledges made so far are well short of this target,
and even if they are all implemented, a minimum rise of 2.9°C is forecast by
the UN Environment Programme. India has no historical responsibility for
accumulated GHGs, but smaller, more vulnerable countries such as island states
and Bangladesh are demanding action to cut emissions. A strategy that involves
all State governments will strengthen the case for international funding, and
spur domestic action.
Vocabulary
Emphasis: special importance, value, or prominence given to
something.
Example: They placed great emphasis on the individual's freedom
Synonyms: prominence, importance, significance, value, stress, weight, accent
Untenable: (especially of a position or view) not able to be
maintained or defended against attack or objection.
Example: This argument is clearly untenable
Synonyms: indefensible, insupportable, unsustainable, unjustified, unjustifiable
Cumulative: increasing or increased in
quantity, degree, or force by successive additions.
Example: The cumulative effect of two years of drought
Synonyms: increasing, accumulative, growing, mounting, collective
Renege: go back on a promise, undertaking, or contract.
Example: The government had reneged
on its election promises
Synonyms: default on, fail to honour, go back on
Intended: planned or meant.
Example: The intended victim escaped
Synonyms: deliberate, intentional, calculated, conscious, planned, studied
Forged: make or shape (a metal object) by heating it in a fire or
furnace and beating or hammering it.
Example: For a dark blade such as this, the metal is forged in a magical fire of
burning ice.
Synonyms: hammer out, beat into shape, fashion
Mitigation: the action of reducing the
severity, seriousness, or painfulness of something.
Example: The emphasis is on the identification and mitigation of pollution
Hear: perceive with the ear the sound made by (someone or
something).
Example: Behind her she could hear men's voices
Synonyms: perceive, make out, discern, catch, get, apprehend, overhear
Pegged: fix or make fast with a peg or pegs.
Example: Drape individual plants with nets, pegging down the edges
Synonyms: fix, pin, attach, fasten, secure, make fast
Spur: a thing that prompts or encourages someone; an incentive.
Example: Profit was both the spur and the reward of enterprise
Synonyms: stimulus, incentive, encouragement, inducement, impetus