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Ecology & Environment
Mahesh

12/04/24 05:49 AM IST

The evolution and essentials of India’s climate policy

In News
  • The 1990s were a time of great change in India and the world, which led to the forging of new policies in many areas, including on the environment.
Lancet Planetary Health’2022 report
  • The United States and Europe were responsible for majority of global ecological damage caused by the overuse of natural resources.
  • The US accounts for 27% of the world’s excess material use, followed by the EU (25%). Other rich countries such as Australia, Canada, Japan, and Saudi Arabia were collectively responsible for 22%.
  • High-income countries with only 16% of the world’s population are responsible for 74% of excess resource use over their fair share. China has also overshot its sustainability limit by 15% of resource overuse.
  • Over the same period, 58 countries representing 3.6 billion people — including India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Bangladesh — stayed within their sustainability limits.
  • While India is within the limits of its sustainability, the high-income countries must reduce resource use by ~70% from existing levels to reach the sustainability range.
India's climate policy
  • India’s climate policy is based on five major determinants: geography, population, impacts, worldview, and actions.
Geography
  • The Indian landmass has an area of 3.28 million sq km, accounting for 2.4% of the world’s geographical land surface area and 4% of the world’s freshwater resources.
  • India is the seventh largest country in the world. It is one of the 17 mega-biodiverse countries, having four biodiversity hotspots, 10 bio-geographic zones, and 22 agro-biodiversity hotspots.
  • India experiences six different seasons, and its civilisation and economy have developed in harmony with this seasonal cycle.
  • In recent decades, climate change has disrupted this harmony by blurring the distinction between seasons, which has led to increased unpredictability and negative consequences for nature and society.
POPULATION
  • India’s 1.4 billion people account for almost one-sixth of humanity. It is home to 7-8% of the world’s recorded species, with more than 45,500 species of plants and 91,000 species of animals documented so far.
  • The human to land ratio is very low in India at 0.0021 sq km, and is continuing to recede — we must learn to survive with this serious limitation, which requires understanding and an integrated management of land and water.
IMPACTS
  • The Global Climate Risk Index 2020 prepared by Germanwatch puts India as the fifth most affected country in terms of experiencing extreme weather events, a sharp rise from its 14th position in 2017.
  • The World Bank report on the Impact of Climate Change on South Asia (2018) predicts that rising temperatures and changing monsoon rainfall patterns could cost India 2.8% of its GDP and depress the living standards of nearly half the country’s population by 2050.
WORLDVIEW
  • Our worldview is shaped by our ancestors — of living in harmony and consonance with nature.
  • The ‘Prithvi Sukta’ says that the Earth is our Mother, and sacred groves tell us that the idea of protection of nature and natural resources is seeped in our way of life.
  • Gandhi’s ideals of standing up for the last man, trusteeship, and the ability of the Earth to provide enough for everyone’s need and not anyone’s greed represents a continuous strain of thought since time immemorial.
Other Initiatives
  • India created international institutions like the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to focus on the transition to renewable energy, separated carbon emissions from economic growth, and is one of the G20 countries that are on track to meet the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets.
The evolution of India’s climate policy
  • India’s climate policy is informed by its vision of inclusive growth for all-round economic and social development, the eradication of poverty, declining carbon budget, firm adherence to the foundational principles of the UNFCCC, and climate-friendly lifestyles. India’s climate policy has always been clear, consistent, and coordinated.
  • India has been clear that the problem of climate change is the result of overexploitation of natural resources by developed countries.
  • India has been a consistently strong voice of the Global South: the CBDR-RC (Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities) principle was developed largely through Indian interventions at the Rio Summit, 1992.
  • The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) 2008, with eight missions, has laid the ground for understanding climate change and acting on it.
  • Thirty-four Indian states and Union Territories have prepared State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCCs) consistent with the objectives of NAPCC; it is coordinated as India’s climate policy, and is not the preserve of any one Ministry or Department.
  • India, along with Sweden, heads ‘The Leadership Group for Industry Transition’. With the ‘Lifestyle for Environment’ movement, India shows that convenient actions are the only way possible, and that India’s sustainable lifestyles are the way forward.
  • India has been successfully decoupling its economic growth from greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, resulting in a reduction of the emission intensity of its GDP by 33% between 2005 and 2019.
  • India’s solar energy capacity has increased by more than 26 times, and wind energy capacity has more than doubled in the last 10 years.
  • It now has the fourth largest installed capacity of wind, and fifth largest solar in the world, achieving a target of 40% installed electric capacity from non-fossil fuels in November 2021, nine years ahead of schedule, and then increasing the target to 50%.
Source- Indian Express

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