India’s Commitments at COP26 Glasgow- Relevance for UPSC Exam
- GS Paper 2: International Relations- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
- GS Paper 3: Environment- Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation.
India’s Commitments at COP26 Glasgow- Context
- The Prime Minister of India while addressing COP 26 of the UNFCCC summit at Glasgow, Britain, highlighted India’s commitments in the fight against climate change.
- Until now, India was the only major emitter that hadn’t committed to a timeline to achieve net-zero or a year by which it would ensure its net carbon dioxide emissions would be zero.
India’s Commitments at COP26 Glasgow- Associated Challenges
- Lack of Financial support by Developed Countries: They have failed to meet their commitment of providing 100 billion dollars each year to developing countries in their fight against climate change.
- Poor focus on Adaptation: there hasn’t been as much focus on climate adaptation as on mitigation and this is harming developing countries’ interests.
- Developing countries are the worst victim of climate change and due to a lack of focus on climate change adaptation, their people are suffering the most.
- Climate change has resulted in changes in cropping patterns, along with frequent floods.
- To counter this, we need to make agriculture resilient to these shocks.
UN Glasgow Climate Change Conference (COP 26)
India’s Commitments at COP26 Glasgow- Key Commitments made by India
- India’s Target by 2030:
- India will ensure 50% of its energy will be sourced from renewable energy sources.
- India will reduce its carbon emissions by 2030 by a billion tonnes.
- India will also reduce its emissions intensity per unit of GDP by less than 45%.
- India would also install 500 Gigawatt of renewable energy by 2030, a 50 GW increase from its existing targets.
- India’s Target by 2070: India will aim to achieve net-zero emissions latest by 2070.
- This is in contrast to India’s run-up to the COP where it had strongly resisted demands by developed countries to take on net-zero targets.
- Impact on India: Taking on net-zero targets, requires a sharp shift to clean energy sources that several experts have opined, which will impose a steep cost on India.
India’s Commitments at COP26 Glasgow- India’s demands
- On climate Finance: India demanded that rich developed countries must provide at least $1 trillion in climate finance to assist developing countries and those most vulnerable.
- This would ensure a spirit of climate justice on the part of developed countries.
- Principles of Equity and Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC) and recognition of the very different national circumstances of countries must be respected.
- Adopt Sustainable mod of Living: sustainable modes of living being practiced in certain traditional communities should be made part of school curricula.
- The lessons from India’s efforts at adaptation in programs such as Jal Jeevan mission, Swach Bharat mission and mission ujwala should be popularized globally.