COP28: India’s pursuit for climate justice continues

Two decades before the annual UN climate summit turned into a glitzy affair with a large number of heads of the states and governments posing for a family portrait, New Delhi hosted the eighth Conference of Parties (COP8) in 2002 attended largely by officials and environment ministers from a few nations.

What, however, remains common between the low-key summit in New Delhi and the ostentatious one in Dubai is India’s continuous struggle to demand “equity and climate justice” in the face of a growing tendency to overlook the principles of Common but Differentiated Responsibility – considered key to climate negotiations from the developing world’s perspective.

In simple terms, the CBDR norms suggest that the rich nations, which benefited economically from the Industrial Revolution much more than the rest of the world, should also pay up more to clean the environment and leave some carbon space for the emerging economies and the developing world to grow. Convincing the privileged ones to follow such principles remains the biggest battle for Indian climate negotiators in the last two decades.

“India is striking a balance between the economy and ecology. We have 17 per cent of the world’s population but contribute less than 4% of the global carbon emission,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Dubai, as he announced New Delhi’s proposal to host the COP33 in 2028, two years before India is set to emerge as the third largest economy of the world.

Modi said that the country was on track to achieve its voluntary emission cut targets and some of the targets had been achieved years in advance.

India has achieved its fossil fuel targets nine years in advance and emission intensity targets 11 years ahead of time. Other targets include one billion ton reductions in the projected emissions and 500 gigawatts of non-fossil fuel energy capacity by 2030 besides attaining net-zero by 2070. Another green objective is to achieve 50 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.

There is, however, no doing away with coal as yet as the mineral will continue to be a key factor in India’s energy mix. With low per capita energy access, India needs more electricity options to eliminate poverty and improve the living conditions for 140 crore people.

“Our approach has been to preserve an effective, cooperative and equitable geo-global architecture based on climate justice and the principles of equity, and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities," said Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra.

For years, India has been demanding a better flow of finance and green technologies, but what has been received from the West so far is insufficient. “Climate finance and climate technology are crucial segments of all the global efforts in addressing the challenge of environmental degradation. We expect a clear roadmap to be agreed at COP28 on climate finance,” he noted.

“We don’t have much time to correct the mistakes of the past. A small section of humanity destroyed nature and the entire humanity is paying the price. Mother Earth is looking at us to protect our future,” said the prime minister.