Since January 2021, I am writing on Environment and Science in the 'Chatusutra' weekly column of Loksatta, a Marathi language newspaper. This weekly series contains four different themes being written by four different authors in a four-week cycle. My first article was published on the second Wednesday of the year, and thereafter my articles are coming every four weeks. One of the request from the readers has been to provide English translations for those who are not able to read Marathi. Meera Rotti took on the task to do this, and therefore I am launching this monthly mini-series. Every month, I will post the English translation of one article in the same chronological order that the Marathi articles have been published in Loksatta.
Link to previous post: SUSTAINable Life: Chatusutra_Loksatta_01: Is Human A Virus? (samuchitenvirotech.blogspot.com)
02. Battle of India's Survival
The original Marathi article published on 10 Feb 2021 can be found HERE.
On 20th January, 2021 Joseph Biden took
charge as President of the USA, and on his very first day of work he initiated
the process of bringing the USA back into Paris Agreement. The treaty adopted
by 196 parties in the global conference on climate change that was convened by
the UN in Paris in 2015 is known as the “Paris Agreement”. The USA, under the
leadership of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, had played an instrumental role in
negotiating the terms of this treaty. Obama's successor Donald Trump, whose win in
2016 was quite unexpected, was part of the climate denier community in the USA,
and soon withdrew the USA from the pact. The new president Joe Biden has taken
a number of strategically important policy decisions for climate change
mitigation within first 10 days of assuming the office. This clearly indicates that
bringing the USA back into Paris agreement is not just a token move in global
politics.
Although the Paris agreement was
signed in 2015, it officially comes into force from this year. Participation of
the USA in this treaty is crucial for achieving the targets agreed in the pact.
Climate Change Crisis emerged over the
course of industrialization driven by fossil fuels. Developed countries that have
utilized the fossil fuels without any restraint over the last 150 years, and
the countries which mine these fuels bear the maximum responsibility for creation
of the global crisis. Though the industrial revolution originated in Europe,
the USA accelerated its pace to the peak in the 20th century, and is also
amongst the key producers of petroleum and coal. Though today it has been
outpaced by China in industrialization, it still remains the second highest
contributor to climate change. If the European union along with UK is
considered as a single entity, then they are the 3rd and India is the 4th
highest contributor to this crisis at present.
If the key problem creators are not
involved in the process of resolving a problem, the chances of resolution fade
away. This is exactly what happened in the case of the Kyoto Protocol of 1997.
This Protocol obligated 37 developed countries to reduce their contribution to
climate change to safeguard the world from an impending crisis. However, when
it came to actual adoption of this protocol the USA revoked their decision of
commitment, and subsequently none of the parties delivered on their agreed
terms. Failure of this deal necessitated another pact.
The global crisis that seemed as a
lurking problem in the late 1990s has now struck us with conspicuous signs. If
the annual volume of fossil fuels, which continues its trajectory upwards, does
not start to decline over the next 10 years, we will have to face catastrophic
climatic changes at the end of this century. This precarious situation compels
all the nations - whether among the primary contributors to climate change, or
not - to be party to the Paris agreement.
China, EU and India showed a positive
attitude towards the Paris Agreement; however, the sudden withdrawal of the USA
had left them in the lurch. In that sense, existence of the entire human
civilization was at stake in the 2020 presidential elections of the USA. Defeat
of Trump has made wise people all over the world heave a sigh of relief.
These events are indeed positive from
India’s perspective, and at the same time add to our responsibility. While
India is one of the top 5 current contributors to climate change, it also ranks amongst
the first 10 countries most vulnerable to the crisis. No other country faces this
kind of a conundrum.
As a part of enforcement of the Paris
agreement, India has been mainly focused on increasing the share of renewable
energy in electricity generation. The efforts are on track towards the set target;
however, according to some experts, the target itself is set considerably below
the capacity and scope. Expanding the forest cover is also one of the commitments
by India under the Paris Agreement. Misleading calculations by including agroforestry and fruit orchards under forest cover are being used to create an
impression of the target being reached. However, in reality this is not going
to achieve the desired end result as long as encroachment and destruction of
natural habitats continues relentlessly leading to shrinkage of the true forest
cover.
India has a vast coastal belt which is
home to nearly 40% of its population. Sea-level rise induced by global warming
is going to affect this population. The northern perennial rivers, which have enabled
our food security, originate in the Himalayas. Global warming is causing
melting of the glaciers, which are the origin of these rivers. Due to this, by the
time the much-touted river-linking project is completed, the rivers in the
North India will run dry, rather than having excess water to transfer to the
southern drought-prone river basins. Climate change has led to an increase in the intensity as well as frequency of disasters like hurricanes, locust-attacks,
forest fires etc. Weather-cycle too has altered. Excessive rainfall events are
happening more often, and the dry spell between them is also increasing.
Adverse effects of these are seen on agricultural and industrial activities as
well as on cities and towns. Intensity of such events is only going to increase
in the upcoming years which can severely damage the economic, social and
political systems of India.
The wrath of the climate change
impacts will have to be faced primarily by farmers, fishermen, tribals, daily
wagers as well as the disabled, women, elderly, and children across all sections of the society. The situation experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic
will be repeated during such circumstances. Those who created the problem - the
urban rich (international travelers in the context of COVID, people with fossil
energy driven lifestyle in the context of climate change) - will be able to
protect themselves from such blows; however, those who had nothing to do with the
problem will be the most vulnerable to a series of catastrophic impacts. This
will result in a surge of helpless refugees.
What can we do today to avert this
destructive future? Urban privileged citizens should introspect about their energy
consumption. It is crucial to limit and optimize the use of energy, and also to
use renewable energy as much as possible. The same principle applies to use of all
resources and services as well. Furthermore, anticipating possible effects on
the local ecosystem, and designing and implementing appropriate community-level emergency response systems can prove extremely beneficial. Nevertheless, only
individual and community efforts cannot mitigate climate change crisis. These
must be actively supplemented by science based and prudent policies.
Unfortunately, government policies are
not shaped by recommendations from scientists. They are largely influenced by voters’
aspirations, or extreme pressure from either big business interests or
international community. India’s climate action policies are largely shaped by the
pressure of international politics. Safeguarding weaker sections of
the society from the adverse impacts of climate change has never been high up
on the global political agenda, and so is the case with India’s climate agenda.
Most of the Indians are not even aware of the intensity and scope of the
problems arising from Climate Change coming our way. As a result, they are also
not vocal about it.
Shifting away from destructive policies chasing delusional developmental dreams cannot be expected from a political system that is at the mercy of oil, coal, and construction businesses. Public pressure is indeed crucial in bringing about the change. From this perspective, creating awareness among the adult citizens - the voters of today - is extremely necessary. Those who understand the gravity of the problems should persistently follow up with the representatives from local to national government bodies for changes in policy-making. This is the true battle we need to fight for India’s survival.
Author: Priyadarshini Karve
English Translation: Meera Rotti
No comments:
Post a Comment