The Hindu Editorial (Stocktaking the calamity) – Sep 11, 2023

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The Hindu Editorial (Stocktaking the calamity) – Sep 11, 2023:

stocktake (verb) – review, assess, analyze (one’s situation).
calamity (noun) – disaster, catastrophe, crisis, tragedy.
Global stocktake (noun) – The global stocktake enables countries and other stakeholders to see where they’re collectively making progress toward meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement – and where they’re not. It’s like taking inventory; countries laying out what they have so far done to achieve commitments laid out in the Paris Agreement.
breakthrough (noun) – very important/significant development or progress; advancement, improvement.
talks (noun) – discussion, discourse, debate, dialogue, deliberation, negotiation, parley.
intricately (adjective) – complicatedly, perplexingly, challengingly.
wove past tense of weave (verb) – entwine, intertwine, interlace, intertwist, twist together.
G-20 (noun) – The G20, formed in 1999, is a group of twenty of the world’s largest economies that meets regularly to coordinate global policy on trade, health, climate, and other issues. It brings together the world’s major advanced and emerging economies. The G20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, EU, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, UK and USA. The G20 Countries together represent around 90% of global GDP, 80% of global trade, and two thirds of the world’s population.
summit (noun) – meeting, conference, conclave (international meeting/conference of heads of state/government).
clean energy (noun) – green/renewable energy; energy generated from natural resources (such as water, wind & solar energy).
sustainable (adjective) – supportable, acceptable, trustworthy, reasonable, sensible, reliable, dependable, well-founded (without disturbing the balance of nature and then without exhausting all of the natural resources).
collective (adjective) – common, shared, joint, combined.
avert (verb) – prevent, stop, avoid.
set out (phrasal verb) – present, describe, put forward, propose, state, explain, detail.
await (verb) – wait for.
serve as (verb) – act as, function as.
Conference of the Parties (COP) (noun) – The Conference of Parties (COP) is the apex decision-making body of the United Nations Climate Change Framework Convention (UNFCCC). The UNFCCC was formed in 1994 to stabilize the greenhouse gas emissions and to protect the earth from the threat of climate change. COP members have been meeting every year since the year 1995. As of 2022, the number of member countries in the UNFCCC has reached 198. The first conference (COP1) was held in 1995 in Berlin. The 27th session (COP27) was held in 2022 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
COP 28 (noun) – The 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 28) to the UNFCCC will convene from 30 November to 12 December 2023. It will take place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (noun) – The UNFCCC entered into force on 21 March 1994. Today, it has near-universal membership. The 197 countries that have ratified the Convention are called Parties to the Convention. Preventing “dangerous” human interference with the climate system is the ultimate aim of the UNFCCC.
schedule (verb) – plan, arrange or organize (an event) to happen at a specific time.
reckoning (noun) – calculation, estimation, computation, summation; opinion, appraisal, judgement, evaluation.
stem (verb) – stop, restrict, control, contain, lessen, reduce.
greenhouse gas (GHGs) (noun) – heat-trapping gas; a gas (such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, etc.) in the atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation, causing the greenhouse effect and warming of Earth’s temperature. (Courtesy: VOA Learning English).
signatory (noun) – the person who signed an official document/agreement. (in this context, it is a country that signs an agreement).
convention (noun) – agreement, pact, treaty, deal, compact, accord, protocol.
Paris Agreement/Accord (noun) – The Paris Agreement builds upon the Convention (agreement) and for the first time brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. The Paris Agreement central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
climate change (noun) – a long-term change in the Earth’s climate, or of a region on Earth (Courtesy: NASA).
carbon emission (noun) – the release of carbon into the atmosphere.
(carbon) emissions (noun) – Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; Carbon dioxide is also a greenhouse gas produced as a byproduct of human activities. Burning fossil fuels—coal, oil, and natural gas—is the number one source of global CO2 emissions.
as far as (phrase) – to the extent that.
limit (verb) – restrict, curb, control.
acknowledge (verb) – accept, recognize, realize.
headway (noun) – progress, advancement, moving forward, forward movement.
as of now (phrase) – at this moment.
overshoot (verb) – be more than something, be greater than; go beyond, exceed.
unequivocally (adverb) – absolutely, explicitly, directly, clearly, categorically, conclusively, unconditionally, unqualifiedly, unambiguously.
mitigation (noun) – moderation, reduction, decrease, eradication.
measure (noun) – action, act, step, move.
net zero emissions/carbon neutrality (noun) – it means annual zero net CO2 emissions; Carbon neutrality means every ton of anthropogenic (human-caused or influenced) CO2 emitted is compensated with an equivalent amount of CO2 removed (e.g. via carbon sink or carbon sequestration).
current (adjective) – present.
consistent (adjective) – in accordance with, in agreement with, in line with, compatible with.
unlikely (adjective) – doubtful, implausible, improbable, questionable.
upscale (verb) – upgrade; to increase the scale (size) of something; to improve the quality of something.
eschew (verb) – avoid, ignore, reject, rebuff, refuse.
eschewal (noun) – the act of keeping away from something undesirable.
fossil fuel (noun) – non renewable resources (or fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas are formed from the buried/deposited organic materials).
natural gas (noun) – colourless, odorless highly flammable gaseous hydrocarbon consisting primarily of methane and ethane occurring naturally underground. It is a fossil fuel formed from the remains of plants and animals.
acknowledgement (noun) – acceptance, admission, understanding, recognition, realization, awareness, sensitivity (of a situation).
magnitude (noun) – intensity, immensity; importance, significance, weight.
in terms of (phrase) – with regard to, concerning, regarding, with reference to.
energy transition (noun) – the shift from an energy mix based on fossil fuels to one that produces very limited, if not zero, carbon emissions, based on renewable energy sources.
account for (phrasal verb) – constitute, comprise, form, compose, make up, represent.
prospective (adjective) – possible, potential, probable, forthcoming, eventual, future.
G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration (noun) – On September 9 and 10, 2023 the G20 New Delhi Summit was held in New Delhi, hosted by India as the G20 Presidency. At the G20 Summit, under the theme of “One Earth, One Family, One Future,” important issues such as food security, climate and energy, development, health and digitalization were discussed. The G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration was issued as the summary of the discussions. The biggest takeaway of the declaration was that all 83 paras of the declaration were passed unanimously with a 100 per cent consensus along with China and Russia in agreement.
recognize (verb) – acknowledge, accept, admit, realize, understand.
dwell on (phrasal verb) – to think, speak or write about a specific thing for a long time (especially something that is a source of sadness or displeasure); speak at length about, write at length about, discuss something at length, nag/badger someone about.
reverse (verb) – change, undo, cancel, overrule, override, annul, invalidate, withdraw.
deforestation (noun) – it is when humans remove or clear large areas of forest lands and related ecosystems for non-forest use.
adoption (noun) – acceptance, approval, endorsement, promotion, support, backing.
prong (noun) – aspect, element, part (of a plan/approach).
single out (phrasal verb) – choose, pick out, select, pick out, hand-pick, separate, differentiate, set apart.
granular (adjective) – detailed, precise, minute.
shortcoming (noun) – fault, flaw, imperfection/defect.
curtail (verb) – reduce, decrease, limit.
dismiss (verb) – reject, deny, avoid, refuse, put away, spurn, decline, brush off, pay no heed to.
negotiation (noun) – discussion, discourse, debate, parley, deliberation, dialogue, talks.
aid (verb) – help, assist, support, back.