Manu Shrivastava says India has been working towards its climate change commitments slowly and steadily. For example, in the last three decades, forest and tree cover are increasing alongside economic growth and development. In 2016, India’s trees were absorbing 15 per cent of the world’s CO2 emissions. India is well on track to fulfilling its NDC commitment of 2.5 – 3 billion tonnes of additional carbon sequestration by 2030.
Climate change and environmental degradation are global issues that cannot be treated in isolation. India’s leadership under G20 Presidency has raised expectations of many nations amid failure of international agreements in enforcing commitments. There’s a new-found hope that India can lead the world towards achieving climate change goals laid down as part of the international convention on climate change.
The G20 nations contribute more than 80 per cent to the global emissions. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that came into effect in 1994 has been striving to bring the nations of the world to agree to adopt mechanisms and save the planet from the effects of global warming and climate change.
The 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) of the UNFCCC is scheduled to be held later this year – at the 28th UN Climate Change Conference. The yearly conference hosts nations to assess the progress in tackling climate change, more so to establish legally binding obligations on countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).
At COP28, an assessment report on progress to combat or slow down climate change will be published. Global stocktake is a process to assess the progress made by countries towards achieving the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels as agreed upon in the Paris Agreement. This meeting is also being seen as an opportunity for course correction on climate change mitigation and adaptation.
India commits
In November 2022, India submitted its Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy to UNFCCC, during the 27th COP in Egypt. It focuses on rational utilisation of national resources ensuring energy security, sustainable transition from fossil fuels to cleaner sources of energy, increased used of biofuels, maximising the use of electric vehicles, enhancing forest cover, climate resilient urban development and transition to low carbon development pathway. To make India a green hydrogen hub, the National Hydrogen Mission was launched in 2021.
India has been working towards its climate change commitments slowly and steadily. For example, in the last three decades, forest and tree cover are increasing alongside economic growth and development. In 2016, India’s trees were absorbing 15 per cent of the world’s CO2 emissions.
India is well on track to fulfilling its NDC commitment of 2.5 – 3 billion tonnes of additional carbon sequestration by 2030. Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) indicate the efforts made by a nation to reduce national. They are at the core of the Paris Agreement and the achievement of its long-term goals.
The low-carbon development strategy focuses on long-term, sustainable solutions based on historical considerations. India’s contribution to global warming, in terms of GHG emissions, has been miniscule considering the population share. As a growing nation, there are energy needs for development that will be achieved by pursuing low-carbon strategies. India also needs to develop climate resilience and efforts are underway to achieve that as well.
The young warriors
Eleven-year-old child environmental activist from Manipur, Licypriya Kangujam was motivated by natural disasters in the zone and took the climate change issue to heart. She initiated her crusade at the age six when she attended the Third Asia Ministerial Conference of Disaster Risks Reduction.
Licypriya’s efforts to mandate climate education in schools met with success when the state governments of Rajasthan and Gujarat confirmed that they will implement mandatory climate education for the 2020-21 school year. This also makes them the first in Asia to implement this.
In 2019, Earth Day Network called Licypriya a ‘Rising Star’ for her efforts in the fight against climate change, which have a positive impact on Earth. She was awarded the World Children Peace Prize as well as the India Peace Prize.
For 14-year-old Ridhima, fighting for environmental rights is a way of life. She was only five years old when she first saw the how floods wreaked havoc in Uttarakhand. At the age of nine, she filed a petition in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) against the inaction of the government to protect the environment and mitigate climate change effects.
In 2019, in a landmark move, she along with 15 green warriors from 12 countries complained officially to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child to protest the lack of government action on the climate crisis. In 2021, she and 13 other young activists urged UN Secretary-General to declare a system-wide climate emergency.
Unique, sustainable solutions
A model village in Nagaland – Chizami – has been bustling with youth from Kohima and neighbouring villages who wish to learn and understand the ‘Chizami model of development.’ In this village, the women have brought about socio-economic and sustainable transformation origination from traditional practices of the region. Owing to these developments, the quality of life of local women has improved.
Gujarat’s Punsari village is a world apart. Changes initiated by 33-year-old tech-savvy sarpanch Himanshu Patel have transformed the village. There are water-purifying plants, biogas plants, closed-circuit cameras, air-conditioned schools, Wi-Fi, etc. – all installed at minimum cost.
Many cities and towns in India re struggling to enforce plastic ban. But, in Meghalaya’s Mawlynnong the plastic ban has been successful and without any application of force. The small hamlet with a population of about 600 people has been named as the cleanest village in India and Asia. Here, one can see spotless streets, bamboo dustbins everywhere in public spaces, people sweeping streets and unmissably large signboards warning visitors against littering.
In Maharashtra’s Amravati district’s Melghat region, in Payvihir village, community efforts have brought change like none other. In 2014, attempts were made in the village to conserve the environment and ensure sustainable livelihoods for villagers when a barren land of 182-hectare area was turned into a forest. The village won the Biodiversity Award from the United Nation’s Development Programme for their efforts and success story. The land was under community forest right. Today, the villagers are selling organic fruits under the brand name Naturals Melghat.
At ground zero
Climate change is as real as it gets. Nations across the world are bearing the brunt of climate change in the form of extreme weather events, floods, droughts, landslides, etc. In India, climate change could add about 50 million more poor people than otherwise projected by 2040. Climate change is also expected to increase the health burden of the country owing to the increase in vector-borne diseases, malaria, malnutrition, etc.
In the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Department of Economic and Policy Research’s Report on Currency & Finance 2022-23, it is estimated that the cumulative total expenditure for adapting to climate change in India will reach INR 85.6 lakh crore (at 2011-12 prices) by 2030.
The report titled ‘Towards a Greener Cleaner India’ said that India’s goal of achieving the net zero target by 2070 would require an accelerated reduction in the energy intensity of GDP by about five per cent annually and a significant improvement in its energy-mix in favour of renewables to about 80 per cent by 2070-71.
Another recent report said that among the G20 nations, India is leading in climate performance that comprises steps and initiatives taken towards climate change mitigation. There is consensus in the world today that India can and should use its G20 Presidency to make the G20 nations acknowledge their contribution to the global problem and commit to their targets.
Manu Shrivastava is a journalist and lawyer with DraftCraft International and Co-Convenor of #TheWomanSurvivor, #MeTooAtHome and #MeTooBeyondBorders initiatives.