Climate change is a global challenge and should be seen as a common issue for the entire planet to work together on, but it is increasingly caught in the trap of deciding whose responsibility it is – the developed world or The developing world, including the Global South. , The second challenge being faced is sharing technology and financing the transition from fossil fuels to eco-friendly methods.
Speaking at the NDTV World Summit, Harjeet Singh, Global Engagement Director, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, highlighted the lack of confidence in the developed world and their responsibility, or lack thereof, which needs to be addressed as a priority .
“There is a lack of confidence for a reason,” he explained, “when we see that India and other developing countries face tremendous pressure to move away from fossil fuels, and we should, but The reality is that there are millions of people in developing countries who do not have access to energy and need support, but in comparison, the developed world continues to increase its fossil fuel consumption.”
“When you look at global fossil fuel expansion, you see that Australia, Canada, Norway, the UK and the US together are responsible for more than 50 percent of the planet’s fossil fuel expansion between now and 2050 – that’s The place arises from a lack of trust,” he said, adding that on top of all this, “they are not willing to share technology or help with finance.”
Although he welcomed the decision by the new UK government to stop issuing any more new licenses for fossil fuel plants, he highlighted that the licenses already issued in the past few years have a significant impact on the climate over the next several decades. There will be tremendous negative impact. “Lack of trust is a real issue that needs to be dealt with because developed countries have not acted on their historical responsibility and have not made their fair contribution to the climate challenge, but continue to put pressure on developing countries to do more.” kept, that too without assistance with technology or finance.”
Adding to this, another panelist, Shishir Priyadarshi, who is Chairman of Chintan Research Foundation, said, “There are a lot of lessons to be learned while working on the climate agenda from the way the trade agenda was set at the WTO in 1995. There were two reasons why the establishment of the WTO led to huge trade deficits – one, the developed world made big promises to the developing world if they reduced tariffs and opened up markets, and second, the developed world said ‘we know are’ and ‘we’ll tell you how it’s done and what you need to do’, and this is something that has led to a huge lack of trust, which we must avoid when setting the climate agenda.
Developing countries are doing a lot to combat climate change
Mr Priyadarchi highlighted how “developing countries have done and are doing a lot to tackle climate change.”
Citing the example of India, he said, “India has invested $2.5 trillion in climate finance between 2015 and 2030 – this is huge,” he said, adding, “We (developing countries like India) are on track to achieve zero emissions. “I’m ready to move forward.” And we are totally with you (developed world), but we will do it at our own pace. You can’t tell us at what pace change needs to happen or tell us that these are a limited number of things our way. We will definitely get there, but we need flexibility and support.” If implemented, it will reduce the “trust deficit” to a great extent.
Giving the perspective of developed countries, British High Commissioner to India Lindy Cameron said, “Our Foreign Secretary recently said that he heard that developing countries believe that the system does not work for them. I “I think it’s important that we recognize that, but we must recognize that we all live on the same planet, and we must recognize that we have set ambitious targets such as net-zero emissions in the UK by 2050.”
He also said that “After 6 months in India, I am confident that India is the place where it (climate action) is going to happen. This is the place because it is the country that matters most for the future of the planet.” Keeps.” Climate change, because India’s ambition for development must in no way be constrained by responsibilities to the planet.”
He further added that “We are committed to reforms such as making finance more affordable for developing countries. And we are also working on technology and research here in India to ensure that we meet the incredibly ambitious targets set by India.” Can support.”
The fourth panelist, Erik Solheim, former Minister of Climate and Environment of Norway, commended China and India for their tremendous achievement in terms of climate action targets. Speaking at the NDTV World Summit, he said, “Nobody should blame India or the developing world, especially when countries like the US where per capita emissions are 25 times higher than India’s. Gujarat state alone targets 100 GW of clean energy Is.” Energy by 2030. “It’s huge, it’s 20 times bigger than the entire energy grid of Nigeria – the largest country in Africa.”
He further said, “Forget the whole of India and what the rest of the country is doing, but if you just look at the state of Gujarat… If it were a nation, it would be the 8th largest country in terms of green energy.”
He also praised China, saying, “Today China accounts for 60% of all green energy and the rest of the world accounts for 40%. India is second only to China.”
He also praised Indonesia, which he said had “brought deforestation to zero, making it the country with the largest rain forest in the world”.
“If ten years ago someone had asked me where to go to see climate progress, I would have said please go to Brussels or Berlin or Geneva or Paris, but today I would say look at what Beijing, Delhi or Jakarta are doing ,” he concluded.
