COP27: Move away from mindless consumption, India tells the world at UN climate meet

India on Tuesday told the world to shift from "mindless and destructive consumption" in order to save the planet and undertake a collective journey for climate clean-up following the principles of "equity and climate justice" that would leave scope for the developing world to grow and take care of its vulnerable citizens.

"India, home to 1.3 billion people, is undertaking such an arduous collective action, despite the reality that our contribution to the world's cumulative emissions so far is less than 4% and our annual per capita emissions are about one-third of the global average," Union Minister Bhupender Yadav said at the 27th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change at Sharm el Sheikh presenting the national statement.

The world, Yadav said, urgently needed a paradigm shift from mindless and destructive consumption to mindful and deliberate utilisation. "We are trustees of this planet earth. We must nurture it through sustainable lifestyles that optimise resource use and minimise waste," he asserted.

At another event at COP27, the minister said while it was important to prepare road maps for the industry to shift to a low-carbon trajectory, such road maps would hardly be of any use in the absence of adequate financial resources. "That’s where we need much progress and action," he said.

Yadav made India's position clear a day after New Delhi in its long-term strategy document said it would require tens of trillions of dollars between now and 2050 for shifting to a low carbon economy.

Separately, India had previously estimated that it would require more than $2 trillion (at 2014-15 prices) between 2015 and 2030 to implement adaptation actions in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, infrastructure, water resources and ecosystems.

The developed nations have a target of achieving net-zero emission by 2050 while the same for China and India is 2060 and 2070 respectively. India also seeks to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP to 45% below 2005 levels by 2030 and achieve to have nearly 50% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.

Lowering of energy intensity would require low-carbon transition of 13 energy guzzling sectors that produce 87 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year. A start has been made by creating road-maps for the cement and steel sectors.

While similar plans will be made for other sectors, the shifting would require large-scale international funding.