–Paying The Climate Piper

Context: India’s new policy commitments on climate at COP26 is a major landmark decision towards climate change. But, it came with its own set of challenges.

• Extreme weather events are becoming familiar: not only in small island nations or low-lying, salinated parts of Asia, but across Europe and North America.
• Disruptions in climate systems:  Due to melting of permafrost, glaciers and the poles of planet.
• Increased uncertainties: As no one knows what will happen to the Amazon rainforests, the global ocean conveyor belt, or the ice sheets of the Arctic and Antarctic.
  • Nobody knows how global warming of a minimum of 1.5-2.0° C is going to play out or climate change will be exponential or gradual and how one part of climate change will interact with another.

• Existential threat to humanity due to global heating and ‘There is no Planet B’.

Issues with climate actions

• India specific issues:  India is world’s third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.
  • Policy divergence between Centre and States.
  • India’s pledge to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070 at COP 26 is viewed being too late.

• Carbon-producing energy sources such as oil and coal are regarded by policymakers as stranded assets. But more than half of India’s energy sources comes from fossil fuel-based sources.
• Unfulfilled Commitments from rich countries: India requested specific commitments from richer countries on funding of energy transition throughout global south at COP 26. 
  • But large promises have been made in the past, without any whereabouts of money.
• Inadequate funding to energy transition: As financial system needs to rethink how to keep the coal in the ground, and keep oil and gas under the oceans.

• Major conceptual transition: through broad support of state and central governments, and commitments to legislative change.
• Rethinking new and old methods of building – carbon-intensive infrastructure: Using renewable timber, woven reeds, cross-ventilation and fast-growing bioengineered buildings — something like rapid, modern versions of the constructions of previous generations.
• Complex, phased transition out of coal-generated electricity production by leaving forests uncut, and letting stone remain in quarries and in the mountains.
• Meeting financial needs through global capitalism: As at COP26, a consortium of financial institutions announced a climate finance commitment of $130 trillion (Rs 9,645 lakh crore). Actions are needed to materialise the commitments.

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