The most talked about expression today is climate change, yet its main dimensions are hardly known, identified, or understood by most of the population. Dividing them into four broad categories, largely, while delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow, Noida Branch, I identified them as:
Pollution- air, water and sound
Waste Management- Solid, hazardous, electronic, bio-medical, plastic, agricultural and household waste
Energy- Solar, wind and hydrogen (minus fossil fuels)
Conservation- Water (through rainwater harvesting) and oxygen replenishment (through large-scale tree plantation).
While critics may argue that I have left out many, the essential ones, affecting the common man daily, are covered above.
To make learning easy for the 70-odd, seven years+ experienced executive MBA students, seven broad topics were covered to give them a comprehensive picture of the challenges, the opportunities, the work that has been done, and what is yet to be done.
G20 conference in Delhi last year dealt with climate change very substantially, with India coining the phrase “One Earth, One Family, One Future”. India also created another slogan titled “One Sun, One World, One Grid for creating Energy Security”.
While assessing the United Nations 140 SDG targets, it was revealed that by 2023, only 12 per cent were on track, about 50 per cent had shown little progress and were quite off track, while 30 per cent had not moved, or slid below the 2015 status. Surely a long way to go. Hence, G20 Delhi promoted several inclusive, ambitious, and action-oriented tasks, to achieve the SDGs, and protect the planet as One Earth.
Climate change is bothering every country today through an upsurge in natural calamities. Seven billion plus population on earth cannot survive at the rate at which trees are being felled. G20 has to initiate an action plan for planting and nurturing one tree per person, and hence planting seven billion trees annually, so that the supply of natural oxygen never falls short of demand.
Looking at some crucial sectors, Tourism was highlighted by the G20 Development ministers for advancing sustainability in infrastructure and operations, supporting biodiversity conservation, promoting climate-friendly tourism and protecting and engaging local residents and vulnerable groups. Health was also emphasised for strengthening existing infectious disease surveillance systems, & addressing the link between climate change and health.
Environment protection and climate change are global issues demanding immediate attention, with rapid urbanisation in most countries, where it is affecting flora and fauna. G20 must ensure that two primary free public goods, clean water and air, are never compromised by anyone, big or small.
The fundamental principle accepted in all countries is the Polluters Pay Principle and strict vigil by all pollution-controlling authorities in each town of the globe is imperative to protect our environment holistically.
Waste management needs professional waste disposal systems, in all municipalities of the world. Best technological minds are required to create cost-efficient and effective waste management techniques, to prevent the global population from getting affected. The principle of reduce, reuse and recycle, is essential in ushering a circular economy. The three best recent examples of this on LinkedIn are the complete use of coconut to make a variety of products, the use of pineapple waste to make reasonably good quality leather substitutes and the use of old discarded laptops etc to create long-lasting cell phone covers. This is a fertile area for startups, and most waste is amenable to effective recycling and reuse.
G20 23 July Environment and Climate Ministers meeting in Chennai was very significant as it underlined the need to accelerate action to address environmental crises and challenges relating to climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, desertification, deforestation, water quality access, land and ocean degradation etc. The ministers also recognised the commitments towards achieving Paris Agreement goals, the “2030 mission of Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and 2050 vision of living in harmony with nature”. Paris Agreement's decision to keep a tolerable increase of 1.5 degrees C above pre-industrial levels, was accepted as the best available responsible climate action.
For financing cities for tomorrow, the G20 OECD Report was underscored as it focuses on inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities. Support to developing countries to enable urgent climate action was agreed and the need to mobilise USD 100 billion in climate finance, annually up to 2025. It was also decided to tap climate finance from multilateral development banks, international financial institutions, the private sector, and other sources.
Ministers reiterated that by 2030, all efforts must be made to restore 30 per cent of “degraded terrestrial, inland water, and marine and coastal ecosystems”. They urged restoration of “feasible and appropriate forest fire/wildfire impacted areas, and mining degraded lands”. They also adopted the new international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity.
Ministers committed themselves to the International Seabed Authority (ISA) engagement in the “development of a clear, robust, and effective regulatory framework on deep seabed mineral exploitation” to ensure effective protection of the marine environment. For declining water quality supply globally, Ministers stressed the importance of enhancing global cooperation on water, as per the UN 2023 Water Conference.
India has taken the initiative on several lines, and some of the significant ones are listed briefly-
Indian Institute of Science launched Science20, stressing the disruptive power of science for innovative and sustainable development. Delhi was instrumental in drawing up a detailed action plan with 70 odd declarations, in the G20 Conference, focusing on three themes;
One Earth, or a green development pact for a sustainable future, which meets the basic needs of the global citizen. One Family, in terms of maximising synergies and minimising trade-offs, between internationally agreed agendas. One Future, which prioritises meeting developmental challenges through reinvigorating a more inclusive multilateralism, and reform agenda, by 2030.
The Supreme Court of India has its hands full with several matters concerning climate change. Senior advocate J. Cheema has in fact written a book titled Climate Change: Policy, Law and Practice. Deliberating on this book recently, four sitting judges of the Supreme Court made some very interesting observations like;
citizens have a right to be protected against climate change effects, best alternative today appears to be renewable energy, the establishment of a climate change commission, which can issue directions relating to climate change matters is essential, and agriculture which accommodates 58 per cent of the population is severely hit by climate change with rivers like Sutlej converting into a rivulet, and Ganga cleaning becoming a white elephant. Climate-resilient farming has become the paramount need for India.
A BBC documentary covering three generations from 1930 to 2020 shows that humanity has changed the biography of the world and hence, coping such the chaos of extreme cold, torrential rains, heatwaves, degraded forests, low groundwater table, greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) etc is the biggest threat today. Countries like the Netherlands, where ACs were never required, but this year, temperatures went up to 40 degrees C, making it clear that this global challenge has no geographical bounds. Asia and Europe are seeing the fatal effects of climate change, and all nations are experiencing its indiscriminate impact. Hence, sensitivity to reducing our carbon footprint needs to be made a daily habit.
Finally, the judges felt that disproportionate blame was coming to India, while the developed world had created enormous marine and e-waste, and was exporting plastic waste to LDCs, with impunity.
Turning to the geopolitics of climate change, Trump had stopped this train of thought, during his tenure. Biden brought the Inflation Reduction Act 2022, allocating billions of dollars for clean energy. Also introduced multiple regulations to fight global warming including control of emissions from motor vehicles, coal plants etc. Harris may extend this to the cement, steel and paper industries. Energy-efficient appliances and regulations on existing gas power plants may also come. Fracking is the largest energy source in the USA, this may continue with Federal controls on methane leakage. However, in the unlikely event that Trump returns to the White House, drilling will become the norm. Climate finance for mitigation or adaptation was just about USD 17 billion during the present regime, and hence no great changes are expected here.
The G20 Report on MDBs highlights funding of USD 3 trillion annually till 2030 with USD 1.8 trillion for climate change, and USD 1.2 trillion to attain other SDG targets mainly health and education. It is estimated by experts that external sources can garner only USD 1 trillion annually, and therefore, domestically, countries have to harness USD 2 trillion, a near-impossible task because USD 500 billion has to come from increased official assistance, which is highly unlikely. USD 500 billion which has to come from external private finance is also a no mean task.
Looking inward at India, our target is net zero carbon emissions by 2070. For this, renewable energy is the most viable option. At COP 26 in Glasgow, India spoke of panchamrit or focus on 500 GW of non-fossil fuel energy capacity by 2030, catering to half the power needs, with solar contribution 58 per cent, and wind 20 per cent. The idea is to reduce our carbon intensity by 45 per cent by 2030. But our solar achievement is 89 GW and wind 47 GW, which makes it a total of 136 GW as against 500. This target requires an estimated investment of Rs 30 lakh crore in the next six years. The crucial question is whether the Parliament is up to it, to release Rs 5 lakh crore in the Budget , every year till 2030.
India has also launched the International Financing Reporting Standards IFRS S1, and IFRS S2. Government of India regulators have also notified 4 important rules:
Indian Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS Framework)
Green Credit Programme
Regulation for ESG Rating providers
Business Responsibility & Sustainability Report core Framework for assurance, and ESG disclosures for value chain.
National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change and National Action Plan on Climate Change has been created to integrate appropriate technologies for reducing India’s carbon emissions. However, experts feel that the need for creating a carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS), policy is critical to reduce GHG emissions for which, large capabilities need to be developed. Because of stringent environmental concerns regarding CCUS infrastructure, experts believe India has to examine and explore whether its “basalt formations can offer efficient carbon dioxide storage potential” so that all safety protocols are fully met.
Climate change and its various dimensions pose stupendous challenges, both in India and abroad. Each country is trying to find The viable solutions. For India, the challenge is to synergise the efforts of the government, the private sector, the public sector, and the innovative startups that can usher in new technologies to tackle these enormous problems efficiently, effectively, and economically.
