India celebrated the International Day of Non-Violence and
the birth anniversary of father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, by depositing
ratification instruments of Paris Climate Agreement at UN headquarters New York.
India has thus become the 62nd nation to ratify the climate pact. Making the announcement about India signing
the Climate accord on Oct 2nd, at the BJP National Council Meeting
Kozhikode, Prime Minister Modi indicated that “the country is embarking on a sustainable developmental pathway of
development without destruction”.
Paris Climate Accord
The treaty envisaged at Conference of Parties (COP)-21, Paris
last year was the first comprehensive climate treaty adopted by 195 countries.
India signed the agreement on April 22nd, 2016. Reports published by
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicated that extreme climate
changes would set in if global temperatures rise beyond 2 degrees Celsius.
Climate experts estimate that an overall emission cuts of 40-70% from 2010 to
2050 is required to clock the 2 degrees’ goal. The objective of the climate
accord is to peg the increase in global temperatures to “well below” 2 degrees
Celsius and preferably limit to 1.5-degree mark. While reduction of emissions
hardly puts any onus on developed countries that reached the top rung of the
developmental ladder undue pressure is exerted in developing countries. Hence
in a bid to harness collaborative efforts, rich countries have pledged $100
billion a year towards global climate finance for developing countries working
towards climate change projects. The progress of treaty will be reviewed every
five years. But there is no penalty on nations missing the targets.
For the climate accord to come into force at least 55
countries accounting for latest 55% of the global greenhouse emissions causing
climate change must ratify. While the first obligation was already fulfilled,
India’s ratification has brought the pact tantalizingly close to
implementation. India with a population of 1.2 billion is currently the fourth
largest emitter of GHGs. As of now 62 countries accounting for 51.59% emissions
have ratified the treaty. Once, the threshold range of 55% emissions is
reached, climate pact would become legally binding on all signatories after a
period of 1 month. Climate Pact received the needed momentum with China and US
signing the pact at the inaugural session of G20 Summit at Hangzhou, China.
China and US with 20.09% and 1 7.89% of the global emissions are biggest emitters.
Besides, China, US and India the other major emitters are Russia and the EU. But
Russia has to yet agree the Paris Agreement. On September 30th, all
environment ministers of 28 countries in a joint meeting informally gave an
approval to EU to go ahead with ratification. Now, EU is all set to ratify the
climate accord on 5th Oct. Leaders are now hopeful that Paris
Agreement could be in force before November 7th, Marrakesh, COP-22
meet. Though EU warned that internal processes would allow EU to ratify by 2017,
this sudden development is widely celebrated by environmental groups. After EU,
reports now indicate that Canada and Japan are expediting the ratification process.
Congruently, these propitious developments are bound to culminate in collective
global action offering a hope for a better life for future generations.
India’s Stand on
Ratification
India under Modi has demonstrated a new enthusiasm to work
towards global warming. At the inaugural session of the Paris Climate Meet,
reiterating India’s ancient tradition of working in harmony with environment,
Modi declared that India will reduce emissions by 33 to 35% of 2005 levels and
that 40% of the installed capacity will be from non-fossil fuels. He added that
India will aim to reach it by adding 175 GW renewable energy capacity by 2022
and promised to increase the tree cover by five million hectares to act as sink
for at least 2.5 billion tons of Carbon dioxide. It is formidable challenge for
India for its needs $2.5 trillion to reach this objective. This ambitious goal
can be pursued provided developed nations share technology and actively finance
the climate change projects. He urged developed countries to cut emissions,
mobilize $100 billion annually by 2020 for mitigation and adaptation in the
developing countries to fulfill their commitment in a “credible, transparent
and meaningful way”. He also launched International Solar Alliance (ISA) of
over 120 countries with President Francois Hollande at the COP-21 summit to
make the dream of universal access to clean energy a reality.
Modi’s commitment towards climate change synced with Obama’s
cherished desire to bank on climate legacy. Both leaders during their bilateral
talks in June 2016, reaffirmed their commitment towards the shared objective of
climate change in the Joint Statement. In the meanwhile, India actively endeavored
to get into the nuclear regime, NSG to pursue the dream of reaching its goal of
envisaging 40% electricity from renewable sources. But Indian dreams were
bulldozed by Chinese road block. Though US lobbied hard for India’s NSG
membership, India failed to cross the barrier of consensus decision. After the
NSG disappointment, MEA issued a statement saying that “our application has acquired immediacy in view of India’s INDC
(Intended Nationally Determined Contributions) envisaging 40% of non-fossil
power generation capacity by 2030. An early positive decision by the NSG would
have allowed us to move forward on the Paris Agreement”. Vaguely linking
Paris Accord ratification to NSG membership.
At the G20 summit when US and China sizzled in the honor of
ratifying the Paris Accord, India firmly stayed away from making any
commitments. Even the news reports at the G-20 summit projected that India was
not domestically ready to ratify the treaty by the end of 2016. Eventually,
nations began linking climate treaty ratification to India’s NSG membership
pursuit. As a matter of fact, India has been making some progress on civil
nuclear commerce front since 2008 when NSG issued an exemption to India. Hence
the argument of India not conceding to climate pact for not obtaining NSG may
not be appropriate. Moreover, India envisaged to generate clean energy through
solar and wind energy as opposed to civil nuclear energy of target 16 GW or
6.91% of clean energy commitments. However, India had used NSG membership as a
bargaining tactic to ratify Paris accord. Literally, ambiguity shrouded over
India’s commitment of Climate change. Hence, Modi’s announcement on ratification of
Climate Pact took the World by surprise.
Proactive Approach
India’s vibrant stand on the climate pact was widely welcomed
by environmentalists and global community. New Delhi till now had earned
reputation of being a contrarian by holding onto the carping and obstructive
approach. Many a times, it missed the bus for arriving late. The proactive
approach exuded by India now reflects its resolve to play a key role in global
movements. Indeed, India’s rather hurried decision seems to be motivated by the
desire to play a crucial role ahead of the meeting of parties of Montreal
Protocol on Substances that deplete the Ozone layer starting from Oct 10th
at Kigali. The meet seeks to foster negotiations on reducing the production and
use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFC)s. HFCs trap heat, create holes in Ozone layer
and can raise the temperature by 0.5C. Phasing out of HFCs is thus crucial for
reviving the depleting ozone layer and pegging the temperature raise. While
remarkable convergence was displayed by countries on HFC phase down, different
nations have scheduled different baseline year and freezing year. Freezing year
is one in which HFC use will peak and then it is phased out completely.
Baseline year is instrumental in fixing levels. India has stuck to baseline of
2028-30 and freezing year of 2031. Developed nations are insisting on early
freezing year of 2021. India is contemplating on taking an active role in
championing the voices of developing countries. It is willing to arrive at a
negotiable freezing year provided rich countries ensure proper funding and
technology for development of low global warming potential (GWP) alternatives
and capacity building.
India toughened its stand on negotiations that impose cap on
the emissions by aviation sector. Unlike in rich countries, India’s fledging
aviation industry hasn’t realized its potential yet and hence India indicated
that it will not commit on emissions in the sector till 2020. While these
emissions are not covered under Paris accord, cuts on the emissions in this
sector are now discussed in the assembly of International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO), Montreal. Having ratified the climate pact, India can now endeavor to
effectively articulate the interests of developing countries. Concerted action
on climate is one of the major prerequisites for achieving the target of the UN
Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDG). Thus India not only demonstrated its
commitment towards climate change but upheld the ideals of SDG, the theme of
the 71st UN session.
Post ratification, the immediate task before India is to
arrive at a national environmental plan to limit the temperature rise. Unlike
the developed countries India had to balance its carbon emissions with economic
development objectives. While the per capita emissions of India (ranked 140th)
are much lower than developed countries, the cumulative emissions make it
fourth largest emitter drawing the attention of the international community. Nearly
300 million people in India don’t have access to electricity and India’s
reliance on dirty coal reserves have irrevocably escalated carbon emissions
turning it into largest polluter. Thus to meet the growing energy requirements
of developing economy, India should now focus attention on generating energy
from renewable resources in an efficient and sustainable way.
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