The principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities', often talked about in media, refers to

Q: What is the answer to CAPF 2022 Paper I Q96?

C. Correct — C, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The principle belongs to the climate regime. Article 3.1 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change states that 'the Parties should protect the climate system for the benefit of present and future generations of humankind, on the basis of equity and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities'. It says that every country shares the duty to act, that developed countries bear more of it because their historical emissions built the problem and their capacity to act is greater, and it is the reason the Convention's Annex I countries carry obligations that developing countries do not.

(a)WHO's COVID-19 Global Vaccination Drive
(b)contributions to the International Monetary Fund
(c)reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
(d)contributions to the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations

Answer

Why

Correct — C, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The principle belongs to the climate regime. Article 3.1 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change states that 'the Parties should protect the climate system for the benefit of present and future generations of humankind, on the basis of equity and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities'. It says that every country shares the duty to act, that developed countries bear more of it because their historical emissions built the problem and their capacity to act is greater, and it is the reason the Convention's Annex I countries carry obligations that developing countries do not.

Why the others are wrong

(a)WHO's COVID-19 Global Vaccination Drive — Vaccine equity was argued in similar language during the pandemic, but the phrase is a term of art in climate law and has no formal place in the WHO's vaccination programmes.
(b)contributions to the International Monetary Fund — Contributions to the International Monetary Fund follow the quota formula, which is built from a member's GDP, openness, economic variability and reserves — an arithmetic rule, not a differentiated-responsibility principle.
(d)contributions to the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations — Peacekeeping assessments follow a scale of contributions based on capacity to pay, with permanent members of the Security Council paying a premium. That is a budget rule, not this principle.

Concept

The principle entered international law through the 1992 Earth Summit at Rio and was written into the UNFCCC agreed there. It rests on two ideas held together: responsibility, which looks back at who put the carbon in the atmosphere, and capability, which looks at who can afford to act now. The 'respective capabilities' half is what allows the balance to shift as economies grow.

The Kyoto Protocol of 1997 read the principle strictly, placing binding targets on developed countries alone. The Paris Agreement of 2015 kept the principle but added the qualifier 'in the light of different national circumstances', and moved to nationally determined contributions in which every country pledges its own target. India has invoked the principle consistently, along with climate finance and equity, in every round of these negotiations.

Key facts

Article 3.1 of the UNFCCC states the principle in those words.
The UNFCCC was opened for signature at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and entered into force in 1994.
The Kyoto Protocol put binding targets only on Annex I, the developed countries.
The Paris Agreement retains the principle with the added phrase 'in the light of different national circumstances'.

The two halves of the principle, and what each is doing

Common responsibility→The atmosphere is a shared system, so every country owes a duty to protect it. No one is exempt.

Differentiated responsibility→Historical emissions differ enormously, so the countries that built the stock of carbon carry more of the burden.

Respective capabilities→Ability to act differs too, and it changes over time — which is why the balance is renegotiated at each stage.

Where it operates→UNFCCC 1992, Kyoto Protocol 1997, Paris Agreement 2015 — the climate regime throughout.

Common duty, unequal shares — the formula that holds the climate negotiations together.

Study next

The UNFCCC, its Annex I list and the Conference of the PartiesThe Kyoto Protocol and its binding targetsThe Paris Agreement and nationally determined contributionsClimate finance, the Green Climate Fund and loss and damageIndia's climate position, net-zero target and Panchamrit commitments

Common traps

Transplanting the phrase to vaccine or debt equity, where similar arguments are made in ordinary language.
Assuming the principle exempts developing countries from acting; it differentiates the share, not the duty.

As 'the principle refers to', or inside a statement set on the Paris Agreement and Kyoto Protocol.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Binding emission-reduction targets were placed only on developed countries by which instrument?
- (a)The Montreal Protocol
- (b)The Kyoto Protocol
- (c)The Paris Agreement
- (d)The Convention on Biological Diversity
Answer(b) The Kyoto Protocol — the Paris Agreement replaced that structure with nationally determined contributions from every party.
practice — not a real PYQ
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change was opened for signature at
- (a)the Stockholm Conference, 1972
- (b)the Rio Earth Summit, 1992
- (c)the Johannesburg Summit, 2002
- (d)the Copenhagen Conference, 2009
Answer(b) the Rio Earth Summit, 1992 — the Convention entered into force in 1994.