Climate change: World looks at India, but where’s India looking?

With third-largest carbon and greenhouse gas emissions in the world, India cannot probably walk away from its responsibilities of being a prominent player in the Climate Change Dialogue. While international climate change negotiations are underway with talks and negotiations being tabled in Paris in a few months, India is perhaps the most discussed nation at the moment. Where do Indians stand with their commitment towards saving the earth for our children?

Not too many bright spots to count at the moment. Whether it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s innovative ideas that were almost pooh-poohed at, such as cycling to work or switching the street lights off on full moon nights; or better still, looking at Yoga to answer all the climate change queries, the country is in a bit of a fix with climate change dialogues.

Indian government has fixed its priorities pretty robustly in the given situation where internal challenges stalk the country more than external and lofty commitments. The country, which is on the verge of a major economical change, cannot and should not, talk about commitment to the environment. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments on the ‘developed nations’ drew flak. He said those nations which plundered the natural resources and abused the earth to create a cushy environment are more responsible to take right steps than having to shift the responsibility on India, which worships almost every aspect of nature. A pagan nation, at that!

Despite this, India joins a select few countries, the list that is still growing, to make very significant efforts to show the world they are willing to do what it takes, to slow down the greenhouse gas effect. However, this was not so in the recent past. India had almost flatly refused to quantify its targets on reducing the greenhouse gas emissions, on the basis that this would come in the way of poverty alleviation through creation of jobs and industries.

That way, talking on climate change is a tough challenge for India which is still working to create food security for its 1.25 bn population which is growing in leaps and bounds even as the country brings some facts and figures to the Paris meet.

The fact that climate change has become a major topic of discussion in the recent times especially with India being in the centre of this entire gamut of negotiations is an undeniable fact. Political analysts and experts believe though India is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, it should be given a free way to chart its own course towards the climate change agenda owing to the fact that the country is on the throes of economic shift. This will only make things better for both US and China to deal with the emerging India that would be far more responsible and accountable.

Way back in 2014, China and US had come to agree that as nations, they had greater accountability than other nations on issues pertaining to climate change. The Lima Conference of Parties in some ways contravened the North-South firewall as it sought details from stakeholders at a larger level. But, on the contrary, it somehow stressed the historic differences between nations pertaining to stakes and accountability aspects.

The most important breakthrough came in the form of China-US bilateral agreement on carbon emissions accepting certain terms and conditions that there was a specific time when these emissions could peak.

Both countries also took the lead and said they had more responsibility on the matter than the other nations to arrive at an effective global agreement.

The similarities between China and India are way too stark to ignore them. India is of the opinion that developed countries need to account for the fact that they industrialized themselves way before China and India did. As a result, climate change today has more urgency to be spelt out than the other topics. But, the crux of the matter lies in the fact that India needs to go into full-fledged industrialization with a bit of caution than China, because the neighbour is already bearing the brunt of emphasizing too much on production than smart innovation.
In this spectrum of common-yet-differentiated responsibility, India finds itself in a tricky position. The country now finds itself sandwiched between nations that industrialized long ago, and are reaping the benefits of security and basic rights of their citizens strengthened, while India has a long road ahead.

The nations that now speak of using expensive adaptation of renewable energy can afford it, owing to economic security factor. India is in a dilemma. At crossroads between emerging as an economically stronger nation, and a climate-responsible one at that, India really has to choose from the two equally important and imminent choices.

The upcoming climate change meet will see India in a new light, with respect to the matter. This will be a cure indicator as to where India is headed. Will it toe the line of international players who will scuttle its choices inlands, or stand strong and choose to take the path of self-sustenance before being climate-responsible?



(Image credits: klorotechpavers.com)