19.4       ndian     onom
         (xi) compilation of data or information on            The Agreement comprises of 29 articles and is
               sustainable development; and              supported by 139 decisions of the COP. It covers
        (xii) effective      follow-up   and     review  all the crucial areas identified as essential for a
               architecture.                             comprehensive and balanced agreement, including
          In comparison to the MDGs, the SDGs are        mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, finance,
     very comprehensive with provisions of indicators    technology development and transfer, capacity
     for all of its 169 targets which need a proper      building and transparency of action and support.
     monitoring mechanism—a challenge for the                  A marked departure from the past is the
     countries of the world. Financing the goals will be Agreement’s bottom-up approach, allowing
     another challenge in this regard.                   each nation to submit its own national plan for
                                                         reducing greenhouse gas emissions, rather than
     inDiA AnD the sDgs                                  trying to repeat a top-down approach advocated
     India’s draft national SDG indicators are           by the Kyoto Protocol, giving each country an
     being developed by Ministry of Statistics and       emission reduction target. Salient features of the
     Programme Implementation with inputs from           Agreement3:
     Central Ministries and various other stakeholders         (i) It acknowledges the development
     and are now at an advanced stage of finalization.               imperatives of developing countries by
     Going forward, a monitoring and reporting system                recognising their right to development
     will be set up to regularly take stock of the                   and their efforts to harmonize it with
     implementation process and generate credible                    the environment, while protecting the
     information and evidence on progress of the                     interests of the most vulnerable.
     SDGs with the base year as 2016. In the process          (ii) It seeks to enhance the ‘implementation
     of implementation, the NITI Aayog will collect,                 of the Convention’ while reflecting
     validate and document best practices.                           the principles of equity and CBDR-
                                                                     RC (Common but Differentiated
        parIs aGrEEmEnt (cop 21)                                     Responsibilities        and        Respective
                                                                     Capabilities), in the light of different
     The 21st Conference of Parties (COP 21) under                   national circumstances.
     the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework
                                                             (iii) Countries are required to communicate
     Convention on Climate Change) took place in
                                                                     to the UNFCCC climate action plans
     Paris by December 2015. The Paris Agreement on
                                                                     known as nationally determined
     post-2020 actions on climate change will succeed
                                                                     contributions (NDCs) every five years.
     the Kyoto Protocol. Unlike the Kyoto Protocol,
                                                                     Each Party’s successive NDC will
     it provides a framework for all countries to take
                                                                     represent a progression beyond the Party’s
     action against climate change. Placing emphasis
                                                                     then current NDC thereby steadily
     on concepts like climate justice and sustainable
                                                                     increasing global effort and ambition in
     lifestyles, the Paris Agreement for the first time
                                                                     the long-term.
     brings together all nations for a common cause
     under the UNFCCC. One of the main focus of              (iv) It is not mitigation-centric and includes
     the agreement is to hold the increase in the global             other important elements such as
     average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-                adaptation, loss and damage, finance,
     industrial level and on driving efforts to limit it    3.    Ministry of Finance, Economic Survey 2015-16, Vol.
     even further to 1.5°C.                                       2, pp. 179–181.