Reject this inequitable climate proposal

Context: The U.N. Secretary’s call for India to give up coal immediately and reduce emissions by 45% by 2030 is a call to deindustrialise the country and abandon the population to a permanent low-development trap. 

Arguments against the U.N. Secretary’s Call: Rationale for India’s consumption of coal - 

• Against the foundational principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): which distinguishes sharply between the responsibilities and commitments of developed countries vis-à-vis those of developing countries.

• The latest climate report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has asked China and India to reduce their emissions by 45% by 2030,

• Low Per Capita income: Economically weak among G-20, India, with the lowest per capita income among the G-20, requires more cheap energy resources to tackle the recession.

• India has kept its climate promise:  

•  India’s renewable energy programme is ambitious while its energy efficiency programme is delivering, especially in the domestic consumption sector. 
• India is one of the few countries with at least 2° Celsius warming compliant climate action and is currently on track to fulfilling their Paris Agreement commitments. 
• Low emission: 

• India’s annual emissions, at 0.5 tonnes per capita, are well below the global average of 1.3 tonnes; lower than China, the United States and European Union.
• In terms of cumulative emissions, India’s contribution by 2017 was only 4% for a population of 1.3 billion, whereas the European Union, with a population of only 448 million, was responsible for 20%.

• High future energy requirements: With the current decommission rate, India will have only 184 GW of coal-based generation by 2030:

• This will require anywhere between 650 GW to 750 GW of renewable energy to meet the 2030 electricity consumption target of 1,580 to 1,660 units per person per year.
• Oil and gas are not feasible: Unlike the developed nations, India cannot substitute coal substantially by oil and gas.

• Constraints to Increasing Renewable Energy Usage:

• Huge dependence on technology development

• End of legally binding commitments by developed countries:  the Copenhagen Accord signalled the end of legally binding commitments to emissions reduction by the developed countries

• Decline in the annual filing of patents: Annual ?ling of patents shows a marked decline, ranging between 30% to 50% or more from 2009-10 to 2017, across all subsectors and across all developed countries, 

• Lack of production capacity in renewable energy technologies and their large-scale operation

• Job creation:  Renewables alongside coal will generate, directly and indirectly, far more employment than renewables alone.

• Stagnation in Industrial growth:  since renewables at best can meet residential consumption and some part of the demand from the service sector and cannot really drive industry, particularly manufacturing

First World Strategy: in order to force the developing nations towards “de-growth.”

• Abdication of commitment by the developed nation: While the United Nations has dictated the responsibilities to the developing counties, it felt overlooked the lack of commitment of developed nations:

• Continued use of oil and gas by the global North.

• Double Standards by the Secretary-General: He had not called out the U.S. for its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.

• Diverted the attention of Paris Commitments: by through unclarified commitments towards “carbon neutrality” by 2050 and displaying a false high moral posturing.

• Putting the onus on developing countries: due to Failure of the developed countries in garnering domestic political support required for climate action led to putting pressure on developing countries.

• Their strategies include: 

• Demonising of coal mining and coal-based power generation
• Promoting claims that immediate climate mitigation would miraculously lower domestic in equalities and ensure climate adaptation,
• Promoting Third World natural resources as active sites of mitigation and not adaptation, and 
• Promoting theories of “degrowth” or the neglect of industrial and agricultural productivity for the pursuit of climate change mitigation. 

• Utilising multilateral intuitions: for furthering their agenda; For, E.g. the Secretary-General had no comments over the withdrawal of the U.S. from Paris Agreement.

• Youth- Unsensitised to global inequalities: have promoted the rhetoric where developing and developed nations are forcefully held equally responsible despite actual capabilities and issues.

Conclusion: India must unanimously reject the U.N. Secretary General’s call and reiterate its longstanding commitment to an equitable response to the challenge of global warming.