India 'cares little' about UN chief's call: Ending fossil fuel use only way to save planet

By Shankar Sharma*
A few of the recent new items should indicate to us the seriously troubling days ahead of us in view of the irrational/ irresponsible stand taken by our government, which likes to call itself a global leader, in various COP meets such as in COP28.
Most deplorable aspect of such a stand is that there has been no explanation/ public consultation/ substantiation on the policies/ action plans to address the catastrophic consequences of climate change.
These people claiming to represent a country as a responsible member of the UN seems to have no care about the UN chief's call (as well as call by other global agencies such as UNEP, WHO, IPCC etc.) at COP28: "Ending fossil fuel use only way to save planet".
The much touted slogan: "sub ke saath, sub ka vikaas, sub ka vishwaas, sub ka prayas" appears like just a rhetoric.
Taking pride in claiming to be the fifth largest economy, and hoping to be the third largest soon, it seems to have no responsibility/ accountability attached to such claims in honestly minimising the associated ecological destruction.
India's lofty claims on being global leader in climate action, through statements such as "India reduced emission intensity by 33%, reached target early" can be seen as totally ineffective to reduce the climate change related threats, when we also get to read reports to say that "India’s emissions up 4.6% in 2016-19, new climate plans show".
It should not be difficult for anyone to realise that even if statement such as "The country aims to reduce GDP emission intensity by 45 per cent by 2030 from 2005 levels" become true, the net effect on GHG emissions by 2030 can be that India's total GHG emissions can go up by a considerable margin since it's GDP also would have doubled or trebled by that time.
Even if it is the case that our leaders do not care for much of the global pressure to reduce its overall carbon foot print, it must not ignore the associated consequences on the true welfare of all sections of its people, which also includes the flora, fauna and the general environment on a sustainable basis.
So, the country needs to urgently undertake a rational set of actions, not only to effectively reduce its total GHG emissions by 2030 and beyond, but also to adequately protect its critical natural resources, as might be indicated by the acceptable pollution/ contamination levels of its air, water and soil, and by ensuring forest & tree cover of its land to an extent of at least 33%.
When we objectively consider the various associated policies and ad-hoc statements of the govt., it is impossible to project the feasibility of such a happy scenario even by 2050. Even if our elite public / higher educational/ research institutions ignore to focus on such critical and strategic issues, the role of civil society groups become vastly more important to pursue our govt. to act rationally, as called by more than 1,000 climate scientists.
---
*Power & Climate Policy Analyst

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

UP tribal woman human rights defender Sokalo released on bail

By A Representative After almost five months in jail, Adivasi human rights defender and forest worker Sokalo Gond has been finally released on bail.Despite being granted bail on October 4, technical and procedural issues kept Sokalo behind bars until November 1. The Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) and the All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP), which are backing Sokalo, called it a "major victory." Sokalo's release follows the earlier releases of Kismatiya and Sukhdev Gond in September. "All three forest workers and human rights defenders were illegally incarcerated under false charges, in what is the State's way of punishing those who are active in their fight for the proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act (2006)", said a CJP statement.

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

Jayanthi Natarajan "never stood by tribals' rights" in MNC Vedanta's move to mine Niyamigiri Hills in Odisha

By A Representative The Odisha Chapter of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), which played a vital role in the struggle for the enactment of historic Forest Rights Act, 2006 has blamed former Union environment minister Jaynaynthi Natarjan for failing to play any vital role to defend the tribals' rights in the forest areas during her tenure under the former UPA government. Countering her recent statement that she rejected environmental clearance to Vendanta, the top UK-based NMC, despite tremendous pressure from her colleagues in Cabinet and huge criticism from industry, and the claim that her decision was “upheld by the Supreme Court”, the CSD said this is simply not true, and actually she "disrespected" FRA.

Stands 'exposed': Cavalier attitude towards rushed construction of Char Dham project

By Bharat Dogra* The nation heaved a big sigh of relief when the 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel (Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand) were finally rescued on November 28 after a 17-day rescue effort. All those involved in the rescue effort deserve a big thanks of the entire country. The government deserves appreciation for providing all-round support.

'Restructuring' Sahitya Akademi: Is the ‘Gujarat model’ reaching Delhi?

By Prakash N. Shah* A fortnight and a few days have slipped past that grim event. It was as if the wedding preparations were complete and the groom’s face was about to be unveiled behind the ceremonial tinsel. At 3 PM on December 18, a press conference was poised to announce the Sahitya Akademi Awards .

Search This Blog