New Delhi:
Climate change is a global challenge and should be seen as a common problem for the entire planet to work on together, but it is increasingly caught in the trap of whose responsibility it is – development. The developed world or the developing world, including the Global South. . Another challenge being faced is technology sharing and financing for the transition from fossil fuels to environmentally friendly methods.
Speaking at the NDTV World Summit, Harjit Singh, Global Engagement Director of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, highlighted the deficit of trust in the developed world and their responsibility, or lack thereof, to address on a priority basis. Need to do.
“There is a lack of confidence for a reason,” he explained, explaining that “when we see India and other developing countries facing tremendous pressure to move away from fossil fuels, and we must , but the reality is that millions of people do. The developing world doesn’t have access to energy and needs help, but in comparison, the developed world is increasing its fossil fuel consumption.”
“When you look at global fossil fuel expansion, you see that Australia, Canada, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States together are responsible for more than 50 percent of the planet’s fossil fuel expansion between now and 2050. This creates a trust deficit,” he added, adding, “They are not willing to share technology or help with finance.”
While he welcomed the new UK government’s decision to stop issuing any more new licenses for fossil fuel plants, he highlighted that the next several licenses already issued in the past few years will continue to grow. There will be a huge negative impact on the climate in decades. “The trust deficit is a real problem that needs to be addressed because developed countries have not acted up to their historical responsibility and contributed their fair share to the climate challenge, but continue to pressure developing countries to do the same. Do more without help, with technology or finance.”
Adding to this, another panelist, Shashir Priyadarshi, president of the Chintan Research Foundation, said, “There are many lessons from the way the trade agenda was set at the WTO in 1995 while working on the climate agenda. There were two reasons for the trade deficit due to the establishment of the WTO – one, the developed world made huge promises to the developing world if they would just lower tariffs and open up markets. The developed world said ‘we know’ and ‘we’ll tell you how it happened and what you need to do’, and that’s something that has created a huge trust deficit and This is what we must avoid in setting the climate agenda.
Developing countries are doing a lot of work on climate change.
Mr. Priyadarchi highlighted how “developing countries have done, and are doing, a lot to deal with climate change.”
Citing the example of India, he said, “India has pledged $2.5 trillion in climate funding between 2015 and 2030 – that’s huge,” adding that “we (India) (like developing countries) are ready to take the highway to zero emissions, and we are totally with you (the developed world), but you can’t tell us the speed with which to make the changes. There is a need or we will get there in limited numbers on the way, but we need flexibility and support.” If this is done, it will reduce the “trust defect” considerably.
Presenting the view of developed countries, British High Commissioner to India Lindy Cameron said, “Our Foreign Secretary recently said that he heard that developing countries felt that the system was not working for them. I think it’s important that we recognize that, but what we must recognize is that we all live on the same planet, and one must recognize that we in the UK by 2050 have set ambitious targets such as net zero emissions by
He also said that “After 6 months in India, I am convinced that India is the place where it (climate action) is going to happen. It is the place because it is the country on the planet. The future and climate change matter the most, as India’s desire for development must not be hindered by the planet’s responsibilities.”
“We are committed to reforms such as more affordable financing for developing countries. And we are also working on technology and research here in India to ensure that we deliver these incredible opportunities,” he added. to support the ambitious goals that India has set for itself.”
The fourth panelist, Erik Solheim, former Norwegian Minister of Climate and Environment, praised China and India’s outstanding achievements in meeting climate action goals. Addressing the NDTV World Summit, he said, “No one should blame India or the developing world, especially when countries like the US have per capita emissions 25 times higher than India’s. Only Gujarat. The state has set a target of 100 gigawatts of energy by 2030. This is 20 times the size of Nigeria’s entire energy grid – the largest nation in Africa.”
“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 was a nation, it would be the 8th largest in terms of green energy,” he added.
He also heaped praise on 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 world’s largest rainforest nation”.
“If someone had asked me ten years ago where to go to see climate change, I would have said please go to Brussels or Berlin or Geneva or Paris, but today I would say go and see Beijing, Delhi. Or what Jakarta is doing,” he concluded.