COP26: Climate Inequality Remains The Biggest Challenge In India's Fight Against Climate Change

India has promised to reach net-zero emissions by 2070. Prime Minister Modi, in his address at the ongoing COP 26 announced a bold pledge on Monday that India will achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2070 and asserted that it is the only country that is delivering in "letter and spirit" the commitments on tackling climate change under the Paris Agreement.

Net zero, or becoming carbon neutral, means not adding to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

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While it falls short of the 2050 target, a promise of net-zero carbon neutrality in a country like India is 2070 still a great step in the global fight to combat climate change.

That is because unlike most of the world leaders when it comes to climate change, India has many more challenges to address, in the journey ahead.

Despite this India has been on track, to achieve its goal under the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) framed under India's commitment under COP21, Paris Agreement, including increasing the 450-gigawatt non-fossil energy capacity to 500 gigawatts.

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But the challenge for India on this front is that India's energy requirement is going to triple from current levels by 2050 and how much of this can be generated from non-fossil fuels.

For a country like India, which will be one of the worst-hit by the effects of climate change including rising ocean levels, melting of glaciers, more extreme weather events, combating carbon inequality remains the biggest challenge.

Oxfam International¡¯s 2020 briefing ¡®Confronting Carbon Inequality¡¯ shows that over the past 20 to 30 years, our limited global carbon budget was squandered in the service of increasing the consumption of the already affluent, rather than lifting people out of poverty.

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The richest 1% (around 75 million people) were responsible for twice the cumulative emissions of the poorest 50% (3.1 billion people). The two groups that suffer this injustice worst are those least responsible for the climate crisis- poorer and marginalised people and our future generations.

¡°Climate change is happening now. It is already causing extreme weather that is pushing millions of people deeper into hunger and poverty, even though they did the least to cause this crisis. India must demand that developed countries provide more for climate finance to adapt to the impacts of climate change and compensate for loss and damage and enable a just transition¡±, said Amitabh Behar, CEO of Oxfam India.

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¡°We are dangerously close to missing the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal of the Paris Agreement. This is bad news for the entire world but worse for particularly vulnerable countries like India which is already experiencing the impacts of a world that is 1.1 degrees Celsius hotter now. The Government of India must demand that developed countries bring down their per capita material and carbon footprint to global average by 2030¡±, said Behar.

India is one of the most unequal countries in the world and it is imperative that the limited carbon budget is used to lift millions of people from poverty and achieve decent standard of living instead of expanding the consumption of a minority of its very richest people. The same argument is applicable to the Global North-South equity since western countries are still consuming much more than what could be considered fair or sustainable.

"If we go by the figures, India is on track to meet its climate goals, But there is a great divide when it comes to those facing the brunt of it and how little they had contributed to it," Sandip Chowdhury, Project Officer, Access to Energy at Oxfam India said.

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Climate change is the mother of all inequalities. When we increase our energy production, it is to benefit the affluent. It is not serving the poor. But they are facing the brunt of it. That is why climate justice is the need of the hour," he added.

The Global North is responsible for 92% of emissions in excess of the planetary boundary and still continues to consume and waste unsustainable amounts of materials and energy.

¡°There is also a need to prepare and plan for a ¡®Just Transition¡¯ to ensure that the millions of unorganised workers and local communities dependent on the current economy do not suffer due to the eventual and much needed closing of mines and power plants. As this plays out in the next 20-30 years, it is important to ensure social justice is done in this shift towards a renewable future crucial for a climate resilient society¡±, he said.

Another issue India faces according to Chowdhury is the mixed messages being sent out by the government.

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On one hand, the government says it is committed to reducing the dependence on coal and other non-renewable energy sources, and on the other hand, more mines are being opened.

"The government is diluting current laws and regulations in the name of ease of doing business, and on the other hand says we are going full-on solar and other renewable energy sources. But they have not taken any action to control the damage that has already been done. We have said that we will plant enough trees and cover a third of our land area with forests by 2030 to absorb about 2.5 billion tonnes to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But offsetting carbon is not sustainable," he said.

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According to Chowdhury, India should stop issuing new coal mining licenses, if are committed to reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.

"Governments, both at the central level and state level should stop sanctioning projects which will make extreme climate events worse. There is rampant constriction of roads and other infrastructure projects in the fragile Himachal and Uttarakhand. We are inviting more disasters with that," he said.

¡°India has the world¡¯s largest youth population. The future of hundreds of millions of youth are at stake who are bequeathed a hostile earth by the previous generations. We should remember that climate change is a symptom of a flawed economic system and we need deep, fundamental changes in it. We need to do this with a speed and scale that will be meaningful to avert the worst impacts, mostly on the poor and marginalized communities of the world who did not have much to cause climate change in the first place¡±, said Amitabh Behar.

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