Discussion on India Ratifies Paris Climate Agreement

 

Discussion on India ratifies Paris climate agreement. The participants are Dr.C.K. Varshine, environmentalist and Prashanth Sood, Deputy Bureau Chief, Indo-Asian News Service. 

India on October 2, 2016 (yesterday) that is the birthday of Shri Mahatma Gandhi, joined 61 countries that have deposited their instruments of ratification and together they count for about close to now 52% of total global Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. 

It was an important and India became the 62nd country to ratify the agreement. But it has yet not come to into force because, according to the UN, at least 55% of the global emissions have to be taken into account for it to come into force. Professor Varshine, yesterday (October 2, 2016) was a very important day and with India joining those countries which have ratified the agreement, it is being widely felt that the agreement has now got the desired political momentum. How do you look at India joining and it's implications?

I think this has been a very major development and very seminal development in maintaining the global climate and to reduce the growing temperature which is really a great threat to the mankind and the livelihood, to the health and as well as to the productivity of this.

So from that prospective, but the background to this really is that this treaty which was agreed upon during the Paris convention which is known as COP-21 took 20 years to come to this an agreement. This is very significant. So you can understand that people had divergent views about it. Particularly among the industrialized countries as well as the developing countries viewpoint. So ironing out took lot of time but having done that, the treaty has come out that there is an universal need and acceptance that something has to be done to contain the rise the of the global temperature within 2°c because this is scientifically suggested by IPCC modern studied that if the temperature of the Earth rises beyond 2°c, then things are going to be in a very very difficult situation. Irreversible situation and the things will go out of hand. So I think keeping that kind of warning in mind, the global community has finally agreed after lot of rigmarole and skirmish for 20 years that such a treaty we could have. But then for the UN to have this treaty ratified and to get the formalities done, it is a long process and it is a step by step process. So after the Paris agreement, the treaty was opened for signature on 22nd April 2016 and it will remain open for signatures until 21st April 2017. So I think during this period, the global community is required to come in and sign. And I think on that day 191 countries have really signed it and our Hon'ble Minister for Environment and Forests & Climate Change was present and the UN secretary general has organized a special function for this purpose. Now this signature business is fine, but then the treaty to become operative, there are two particular conditions which have to be met:

1. At least 55 countries must ratify. Ratify means they will submit the instruments of ratification which means certification from their government that they agree to this. These are all formal documents which have to be submitted by the country 

2. That the total amount of countries’ emissions which have submitted their instrument of ratification must amount to 55℅ of the global CO2 emissions. 

So once these two conditions are met, the treaty will become operative. The day on which this happens, then after 30 days, the treaty will come into force. So I think this is the operative part and in this Nationally Determined Declaration (NDCs): all those countries which have easier submitted INDCs will be taken onboard. I think then the countries have a commitment to really adhere to that and take corresponding measures in their countries to really meet those expected commitments or very definitive commitments which they have made. So I think number of instrumentalities have to be utilized and has to be generated. India has to work very hard in order to really achieve our commitments that we have made. 

The Paris agreement's central aim was to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping the global temperature raised in this century below the  2°c above the pre-industrial levels. So this is a very very landmark agreement. As you said there were 197 parties to the convention. And as you said it will come into force once, now it is almost at 52% of the Green House Gas emissions that the parties have rectified and another 3% if they do it, then it will come into force after 30 days. But this is one part of the agreement that has been signed and ratified and you said fairly technical and elaborate process. But then we are also about to see that there is a conference in Morocco next month and which is a very important conference in COP-22 is there. How is India preparing for that and what are India's expectations from there ?

Morocco conference which is going to come is an annual event which the parties meet and in this it is only being considered and notes will be exchanged as to what is being done to meet those targets for which commitments have been made. So this is nothing but exchange of notes and so on. But this is important where the information and the experience will be exchanged as well as the people will get to know as to what are the ways and means of really achieving those targets. But in India our commitment is going to be very important because our Prime Minister has already declared that 100 Giga Watt of solar energy plus 60GW of wind energy and we have said that by 2022, we will have about 40% of our energy needs to be met from non-fossil fuel energy sources. So I think with this kind of a commitment that we have, I think there are certain studies which have been done by NITI Ayog where certain amount of economic growth has been showcased that 8% or 8.5% and they have come to the conclusion that our energy needs are going to grow. But even after that we will not be very high CO2 emitters. In fact, we will be at much lesser than the global average. The global average is going to be more than 5 or 6 tonnes per capita while we will not exceed more than 4.4 tonnes per capita, even after the our extra energy requirement which we are envisaging on account of 8% or 8.5% of economic growth. 

But India now that we are preparing for its implementation as you said our intended goals that we have set, we have been fairly ambitious in terms of non-fossil fuels, we obviously need finance, technology, capacity building support and whatever climate finance goals that have been set, those have not been met as yet. And also, India has been pushing for the 2nd commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and I think in Morocco also there will be talk on this. So how do you think India....?

No, no. India has no commitment in the Kyoto Protocol. India is pushing for the developed countries, but as you know Kyoto Protocol has had a very unfortunate fate i.e people have not adhered to their commitments and I think they have fully faulted on that. And that is the reason we find that continuous emission of CO2 is escalated and as as result the situation which has been created has become very precarious which has precipitated in form of the Paris Agreement. 

Developing countries are also saying that whatever their INDCs (their intended goals that they have set), whatever commitment that has been made as part of Green Climate Fund(GCF), it doesn't match their requirement of finance?

You are right that the Green Climate Fund is much too small as compared to the needs, as compared to the kind of program that is envisaged. But it is hoped that as we move on, things will improve. But you are right that here are areas of concern. Another area of major concern is that it is important and incumbent that the developed countries should pass on the technology as well as the know-how and wherewithal for really having energy efficient technologies and so and so support.

There are two premises on which India is working:

1. To really replace the fossil fuel by non-fossil fuel energy resources such as solar energy, wind, biomass, biogas and nuclear. And I think on all these, country is making a very appreciable progress.

2. The second point is that increasing the energy efficiency or increasing the energy density which means that per unit of energy you are able to produce much more than what we have been doing now.

If that is the case, then I think on these two fronts, we do see very practical, satisfactory development. Just to give one example, you see these LED bulbs which have been distributed. More than 6.5 or 6.67 cores have already been distributed and this has resulted into more than 4,000MW of electricity saving as well as the huge amount of per day expenditure of the money. Plus our industry is progressively and gradually is improving upon on energy intensity: less energy for doing more work or with same amount of energy, they are doing more production. So I think these are very positive signals and it will take time. But I think we are on the right track and the only thing is that we have to continue to make our progress to achieve these targets and to demonstrate to the public, and to the world at large that we are able to do it. And it is in our own interest. 

This is significant and symbolism also that India signed and ratified the agreement on birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi who lead a simple life, who exemplified simplicity. Do you think the world is also getting the message that there is a need for change in lifestyles particularly in the developed world where their lifestyles are considered extravagant? Do you think that kind of message also going?

Present day problem of the Global Climate Change is largely because of the lifestyle, because of the luxurious lifestyle and because of the profligate use of the energy. This is the reason that without really losing much, it is possible to contain our energy use or particularly fossil fuel use and the emission of CO2. And I think it is inherent, it is not apparent but I think the underlining message of using this day is only to say that the ideals, experiences, and the way Mahatma Gandhi speeches are really very helpful and provide a philosophical support and guide to really contain our energy needs and at the same time improve the quality of life and welfare of the people.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has talked of climate justice and he was talking of our intended nationally determined contributions which are fairly ambitious because India has indicated that it will achieve about 40% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy sources by 2030. And also renewable power deployment target is 175GW by 2022 which as you said includes 100GW of solar and 60GW of wind energy. These are very very ambitious targets and we are not very far from 2022. Do you think that enough action has been taken by the government? What needs to be done?

I think action is being taken. One of the good silver lining that I see is that the price of the solar energy is precipitously coming down which really instills hope that in future we will be making faster progress on this front. And in fact to be very precise, these targets have to be revised upwards which means that another 50GW have to be added to the solar and another 20-30GW has to be added to wind and other resources. So I think this is actually not enough and we have to add more. But I think the technology is becoming much more manageable, it has become competitive and therefore it is really hoped that things will happen. But  let me also say it is not that easy.  What we can say is that things are becoming better and better but I think the challenge remains. We have to work consistently without really taking any rest on this and without feeling complacent about it. Unless we do that, we will not be able to achieve the kind of targets that we have set for ourselves and that what we have really declared to the international community in terms of INDCs and NDCs.

This decision to ratify the agreement came after of course the government saw though the domestic legal requirements and also internal discussions. Do you think that message is percolating to the grass roots?

I think it is percolating and the climate is getting made because now everybody talks of LEDs and it is also being talked about of biodiesels and green renewables. From every point of view, we are really looking for containing CO2, the greening of the highways is another example where again plantation of trees is envisaged which again are going to really sequester CO2 from the atmosphere. So I think they are all from various angles this problem is reviewed. In fact I should say it has been mainstreamed into every action and every developmental project that the country is planning and the country is really trying to workout. 

India has taken a very historic step which has already been done by 61 other parties, India has become 62nd party, giving the agreement the desired political momentum for its ratification. Hopefully it will be implemented in the near future. And what India is looking forward is that the developed countries also come forward in terms of technology, finance and capacity building at the Morocco conference next month.