Skip to main content

Climate emergency ignored? India's position not to reduce total GHG 'obstinate'

By Shankar Sharma* 

One wonders as to how long will the diplomatic nicety, as seen in two news paper links (click here and here), will be continued to be bestowed on India by the global community; especially in the context that India has clearly indicated that it may build many more coal power plants in the near future, and also in the context that it has not committed itself to reduce the GHG emissions at all even by 2040 (as stated in the draft national energy policy, 2017).
This is in stark contrast to the IPCC conclusion that the global GHG emissions should reduce by as much as 50% by 2030 as compared to 2005 level, and that there should be a net zero carbon scenario by 2050.
Is it too far-fetched to project that India will soon come under unbearable international pressure to raise its climate ambition by a considerable margin? Is there not an urgent reason for us in the civil society to draw the attention of our leaders to this precarious scenario?
Whereas India has not even accepted its own role to reduce its carbon emissions, even as late as 2021, and that it continues to stick to its claim to pollute more only due to its low per capita GHG emissions, the global community cannot be expected to continue to be silent on the ever increasing GHG emissions by India.
A large number of new coal mines and coal power plants are being planned & built; thick original forests are being destroyed; consumption of liquid fossil fuels continue to soar. In such a scenario where is the lead role for India? Even though India has announced an ambitious 450 MW RE capacity by 2030, the same has not been a part of any national energy policy document, and is also without any details as to how India will reach that goal.
If India decides "not to raise its climate ambition at the behest of developed nations", as the MoEF&CC has stated, it should at the least objectively consider the true welfare of its own people, and heed to what its own scientists / environmentalists have been saying for a number of years on the topic of the health of its natural resources and the unacceptable level of pollution/ contamination of its air, water and soil.
As one commentator has said, the obstinate position of the country not to reduce its total GHG emissions even by 2040, and/or to commit to net-zero carbon scenario by 2050, will only lead to a scenario wherein even all the money from the developed countries will not be able to rescue our grandchildren, including the grand children of our political leaders, from the worst ravages of climate change in the next few decades. One wonders whether our leaders have seriously considered this potential scenario, which will impart their own families also.
In this larger context of global climate emergency it is hard to see how India will continue to be seen as "India is a major player on a global stage", as John Kerry has said. It is true that India is the third largest emitter, and that the global efforts to combat climate change cannot succeed without India's active participation; but without India making honest efforts to reduce its GHG emissions, India cannot be a major player in any role other than being an obstructer in the associated global efforts.
What an enviable position for a large country with aspiration to become a permanent member of the UN!
Will our leaders recognise the tenuous position India is in and announce an early, suitable climate action plan?
When our political leaders feel they are confronted by the cynical views by some of our bureaucrats and some of the so called 'climate specialists' on one hand, and the global expectations on the other hand, they will do a great service to our people by objectively considering few fundamental issues:
  1. how India's claim to continue to burn lot more fossil fuels, including coal, will lead to the overall welfare of its communities, in the background that massive additions to coal power capacities since 1990s has not been able to provide electricity to all households, and to pull about 30% of our people from the clutches of poverty;
  2. how the already unacceptable pollution /contamination scenario of air, water and soil in the country will be satisfactorily addressed by such a policy;
  3. how the natural resources such as forests, rivers, fresh water bodies, mountains, agricultural fields etc. will be enhanced by such a policy;
  4. will there be any further deterioration of the overall health parameters of our communities under such a policy, and whether the same will contribute to the betterment of the nation's economy, and whether the same will be be acceptable;
  5. what will be our policies on meeting the growing demand of our people w.r.t energy, water, food, construction materials etc. in next 3-4 decades;
  6. shall we continue to ignore the UN call to declare climate emergency, and to start reducing the GHG emissions?
Will our leaders recognise the tenuous position our country is in, and announce an early and suitable climate action plan?
Our leaders should appreciate and suitably act on the fact that a high level of GHG emissions is a clear consequence of the fast deteriorating health of our natural resources; and the fact that to continue to have high GHG emissions, as we have now, is not in the overall interest of our own people; and the fact that there is a tremendous potential for us to chart out a different economic paradigm which will not only drastically reduce the total GHG emissions by 2030 but will also lead our communities to a sustainable and equitable welfare opportunity.
---
*Power & Climate Policy Analyst based in Vijayanagar, Sagara, Karnataka

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Sections of BSF, BGB personnel 'directly or indirectly' involved in cross border smuggling

By Kirity Roy*  The Border Security Force (BSF) of India and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) of Bangladesh met for 54th Director General level meeting at Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 5th to 9th March, 2024 to discuss on minimizing killings at border area, illegal intrusion, trafficking of drugs and other narcotics, smuggling of arms and ammunitions and other crimes at bordering areas. Further, the summit had an agenda to discuss on overall development in 150 yards area at both sides of the border and design an activity plan for the same.