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India needs to bite the bullet to fight climate change

India needs to bite the bullet to fight climate change

When 51 per cent of pollution is caused by industries, we cannot harp on the progress we made by reducing cooking smoke and transitioning to a better bulb

The recently-concluded G20 summit was the 15th meeting of the grouping. It was expected to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia but due to the Coronavirus pandemic, it was conducted virtually. On this year’s agenda was the socio-economic and environmental impact of tourism and how both, tourists as well as local communities, stand to benefit from tourism as a bridge between different societies.

However, the spotlight was on a side event, titled “Safeguarding the Planet: The Circular Carbon Economy Approach”, that was addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The event garnered appropriate attention as the environment is increasingly being seen to be on the back foot, especially as battered economies open up after a pandemic-induced lockdown.

Addressing the meeting, Modi assured the grouping that India, as a signatory to the Paris Agreement, was effectively meeting its targets on climate change. One of the ways it was doing so was by popularising LED lights that have become instrumental in saving 38 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. Similarly, the Ujjwala Scheme provides clean cooking energy to 80 million households across the country, making it one of the largest green energy drives. Modi highlighted India’s  plans to achieve its 175 GW  clean energy target by 2022 and its ambition to be in a position to achieve 450 GW of clean energy by 2030. Though these are commendable efforts towards negating the adverse effects of climate change, the question we need to ask ourselves is, are they enough?

Recently, the Prime Minister of the UK, Boris Johnson, unveiled a “10-point plan” to tackle global warming. The most notable point was the plan to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030 onwards. In fact, plug-in hybrid vehicles, too, will face the axe after 2035. This unprecedented step towards cleaner transportation has captured the world’s imagination, thanks to the scale of the proposed initiatives to address the problem of climate change.

While curbing air pollution, the step would ensure unprecedented demand for electric vehicles (EVs), too. The EV segment in the UK has already been stimulated by the allocation of 1.3 billion pounds to bolster the charging infrastructure throughout the nation. This is further complemented by a funding of 582 million pounds to aid in EV manufacturing and an additional 500 million pounds funding to help the auto industry conduct research and development on EV batteries.

This policy of the UK to put the “environment first” in the post-pandemic economic scenario is silencing critics, who regularly hauled up the lacklustre environmental commitments of Great Britain. With this one proposed step of deleting fossil fuel guzzlers from its roads, Britain would make a huge difference in its carbon emission numbers and alternatively put its EV usage, which is currently stuck at 10 per cent, on a fast track.

To its credit, the UK has shown that in order to make an impact, the fight needs to be taken to where it matters. In this case, other secondary sources of pollution have been bypassed and vehicular pollution has been met head-on.

There is a lesson for India here. Incremental successes in the fight against climate change and pollution are akin to winning smaller battles while losing the larger war to protect the environment. India, too, needs to come out and identify the largest polluters boldly without the concerns of a backlash.

In a nation where 51 per cent of air pollution is caused by industries, our claim to fame cannot be the progress we made in reducing the smoke from the cooking stoves of our villages or transitioning to a better bulb. The Government has to have the political will to come out with stringent measures to curb industrial pollution.

If anybody can achieve this, it is the Modi Government because it has the mandate of the people and is not dependent on any coalition partners to hammer through difficult decisions if it wants. And its increasing clout in both Houses of Parliament will also make it easier for it to make the changes on the ground if it wants to win the war against pollution and negate the effects of global warming.  

The Centre has to be cognisant of the fact that 21 out of the 30 most polluted cities of the world are in India and millions of people daily breathe in air that is 10 times more polluted than the norms specified by the World Health Organisation. This daily trial by pollution takes a toll on the health of citizens, with nearly two million Indians dying a premature death every year due to pollution-related complications. The reach or the lack of it of the Government’s authority and efficacy of its rules can be gauged by the fact that crop residue burning continues defiantly in Delhi-NCR in spite of the best efforts of the Delhi Government, the Centre and the judiciary.

One of the major reasons for Western nations succeeding in matters pertaining to common good is their higher levels of awareness regarding societal and common good. In India it is more like “each man to himself.” This attitude puts common assets such as environmental concerns firmly in the back seat. The Government, under pressure to show progress on pressing environmental issues, clutches at nominal achievements and leaves bigger problems for another day. India must fight the bigger battles first. Industrial pollution is one of them and in the post-pandemic era, where every nation is re-scripting its economic journey based on a “green industrial revolution”, India must not be left behind.

In order to make a successful transition from polluting industrial infrastructure to a green one, India will have to take bold measures such as cutting down on coal consumption for generating power, rapidly increasing the infrastructure to include clean energy in our daily lives such as EV technologies and, of course, ensuring that polluting industries are shown the door.

Green industrial revolution can usher in the next phase of economic growth for India. The more we delay clean industries, the more we deny ourselves this growth.

(The writer is an environmental journalist)

India needs to bite the bullet to fight climate change

India needs to bite the bullet to fight climate change

When 51 per cent of pollution is caused by industries, we cannot harp on the progress we made by reducing cooking smoke and transitioning to a better bulb

The recently-concluded G20 summit was the 15th meeting of the grouping. It was expected to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia but due to the Coronavirus pandemic, it was conducted virtually. On this year’s agenda was the socio-economic and environmental impact of tourism and how both, tourists as well as local communities, stand to benefit from tourism as a bridge between different societies.

However, the spotlight was on a side event, titled “Safeguarding the Planet: The Circular Carbon Economy Approach”, that was addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The event garnered appropriate attention as the environment is increasingly being seen to be on the back foot, especially as battered economies open up after a pandemic-induced lockdown.

Addressing the meeting, Modi assured the grouping that India, as a signatory to the Paris Agreement, was effectively meeting its targets on climate change. One of the ways it was doing so was by popularising LED lights that have become instrumental in saving 38 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. Similarly, the Ujjwala Scheme provides clean cooking energy to 80 million households across the country, making it one of the largest green energy drives. Modi highlighted India’s  plans to achieve its 175 GW  clean energy target by 2022 and its ambition to be in a position to achieve 450 GW of clean energy by 2030. Though these are commendable efforts towards negating the adverse effects of climate change, the question we need to ask ourselves is, are they enough?

Recently, the Prime Minister of the UK, Boris Johnson, unveiled a “10-point plan” to tackle global warming. The most notable point was the plan to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030 onwards. In fact, plug-in hybrid vehicles, too, will face the axe after 2035. This unprecedented step towards cleaner transportation has captured the world’s imagination, thanks to the scale of the proposed initiatives to address the problem of climate change.

While curbing air pollution, the step would ensure unprecedented demand for electric vehicles (EVs), too. The EV segment in the UK has already been stimulated by the allocation of 1.3 billion pounds to bolster the charging infrastructure throughout the nation. This is further complemented by a funding of 582 million pounds to aid in EV manufacturing and an additional 500 million pounds funding to help the auto industry conduct research and development on EV batteries.

This policy of the UK to put the “environment first” in the post-pandemic economic scenario is silencing critics, who regularly hauled up the lacklustre environmental commitments of Great Britain. With this one proposed step of deleting fossil fuel guzzlers from its roads, Britain would make a huge difference in its carbon emission numbers and alternatively put its EV usage, which is currently stuck at 10 per cent, on a fast track.

To its credit, the UK has shown that in order to make an impact, the fight needs to be taken to where it matters. In this case, other secondary sources of pollution have been bypassed and vehicular pollution has been met head-on.

There is a lesson for India here. Incremental successes in the fight against climate change and pollution are akin to winning smaller battles while losing the larger war to protect the environment. India, too, needs to come out and identify the largest polluters boldly without the concerns of a backlash.

In a nation where 51 per cent of air pollution is caused by industries, our claim to fame cannot be the progress we made in reducing the smoke from the cooking stoves of our villages or transitioning to a better bulb. The Government has to have the political will to come out with stringent measures to curb industrial pollution.

If anybody can achieve this, it is the Modi Government because it has the mandate of the people and is not dependent on any coalition partners to hammer through difficult decisions if it wants. And its increasing clout in both Houses of Parliament will also make it easier for it to make the changes on the ground if it wants to win the war against pollution and negate the effects of global warming.  

The Centre has to be cognisant of the fact that 21 out of the 30 most polluted cities of the world are in India and millions of people daily breathe in air that is 10 times more polluted than the norms specified by the World Health Organisation. This daily trial by pollution takes a toll on the health of citizens, with nearly two million Indians dying a premature death every year due to pollution-related complications. The reach or the lack of it of the Government’s authority and efficacy of its rules can be gauged by the fact that crop residue burning continues defiantly in Delhi-NCR in spite of the best efforts of the Delhi Government, the Centre and the judiciary.

One of the major reasons for Western nations succeeding in matters pertaining to common good is their higher levels of awareness regarding societal and common good. In India it is more like “each man to himself.” This attitude puts common assets such as environmental concerns firmly in the back seat. The Government, under pressure to show progress on pressing environmental issues, clutches at nominal achievements and leaves bigger problems for another day. India must fight the bigger battles first. Industrial pollution is one of them and in the post-pandemic era, where every nation is re-scripting its economic journey based on a “green industrial revolution”, India must not be left behind.

In order to make a successful transition from polluting industrial infrastructure to a green one, India will have to take bold measures such as cutting down on coal consumption for generating power, rapidly increasing the infrastructure to include clean energy in our daily lives such as EV technologies and, of course, ensuring that polluting industries are shown the door.

Green industrial revolution can usher in the next phase of economic growth for India. The more we delay clean industries, the more we deny ourselves this growth.

(The writer is an environmental journalist)

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