19 May 2023
Hindustan Times
Op-eds
G20 summit will play a crucial role for future
climate discussions and help shore up action required from both developed and
developing countries, experts said.
The G20 summit will
play a crucial role for future climate discussions and help shore up action
required from both developed and developing countries, experts said on Thursday
as they stressed on the key issues of climate finance and loss and damage fund
during the HT G20 Agenda on green development; climate finance and LiFE
(lifestyle for environment).
Stressing on the need
for swift action against the climate crisis, the experts cited the latest World
Meteorological Organization (WMO) report that has warned against a likely
breach of the 1.5°C temperature threshold, at least temporarily, within the
next five years.
“It’s a very
important time for us — for the Indian Government to make sure that the issue
of climate action is given the highest priority for the future. G20 is the
opportunity to put forward a very clear statement that we take the issue of
climate change and mitigation very seriously, at a time when countries appear
to be missing their 2030 targets,” said Sunita Narain, director general (DG) at
the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), who was a panellist at the G20
Agenda discussion.
Across the world, she
added, countries are still reliant on oil and gas, and fossil fuels. “I think
it’s important for G20, under the leadership of India, to make sure that there
are very clear statements about both the need for action, the need for equity
and climate justice, without which one will not get an effective climate
agreement for the future.”
Another panellist,
Arunabha Ghosh, CEO at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW),
said it was important for the G20 to recognise that the climate crisis is not
just an environmental issue.
“It is at the heart of
a far bigger existential problem that will impact our economic prospects, human
development, the resilience of our natural ecosystems and the prospects for
future generations,” he said.
The loss and damage
fund, a key proposal during COP27 climate talks in Sharm El-Sheikh last year,
aims to compensate the most vulnerable countries facing the adverse effects of
climate change. It also featured in Thursday’s discussion.
Experts also raised
the need to have a clearly defined mechanism for the distribution of funds and
eligibility of countries that can be compensated for the losses.
“Apart from the G20,
there is also a financing summit that president (Emmanuel) Macron is hosting
next month. India is co-chairing the steering committee and one of the things
we are exploring is how we can explore innovative financing mechanisms that can
raise a lot more capital particularly to address the vulnerability issue. While
mitigation financing gets a lot more investment from the private sector,
adaptation and particularly resilience will require a lot more innovative
thinking,” Ghosh said.
On whether India, as a
developing nation, contributed to this loss and damage fund, Narain said that
the Framework Convention on Climate Change, 1992, was quite clear on this. It
was a rule-based system.
“The biggest question
out there is, who should pay for the loss and damage fund? Should India pay for
it? Now our position has been absolutely no and this is where we go back to the
root of the problem of climate negotiations. In the 1992 framework, it was said
that there are a group of countries which have created the problem and they
need to reduce emissions. The remaining world will also add to emissions as
they grow and they need the right to develop, but they must develop
differently, and for that, they need finance and technology. India has not
contributed to the stock of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, either in the
past or even up to 2030 and it should not be part of the conversation...”
Narain added, asserting that it was simply a “distraction” to delay framing
this global negotiation.
Ugo Astuto, ambassador
of the delegation of European Union (EU) to India, who was also part of the
discussion, clarified that the EU was already demonstrating its commitment in
respect of the last edition of the COP summit.
“In the last few days,
there was the controversy whether a loss and damage fund be created or not, but
then the EU clearly came out in favour of its creation and together, we are
working with India for a positive conclusion. The EU today is already the largest
provider of public funds when it comes to climate change and the largest
provider worldwide of development aid. In the EU, we also have a target now of
cutting carbon emissions by 55% by 2030. This is enshrined in law and not a
vague aspiration, meaning all EU member states will have to follow this.” he
said, stating that the G20 summit can be instrumental, as collectively, the G20
countries were a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions.
“Therefore, the countries have a particular responsibility too. It is a forum
where collective decisions can be taken and agenda can be shaped,” he added.
The issue of a
transition to renewable energy was also brought up during the discussion, with
experts calling for a smooth transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy,
without impacting developing countries significantly. Sumant Sinha, founder,
CEO and chairman of ReNew, said the country was on course to meet its
Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement of meeting 50%
of its energy requirements by non-fossil fuels by 2030.
“In terms of meeting
this target, I think we will be able to achieve it, because we are already at
40% right now. Getting to 50% means that if we just add the next 50-60 GW in
renewable energy, we will be there and that will happen in the next three to
four years.”
However, he said there
were also roadblocks, which were making the process slow. “Adding capacity for
renewables is not that simple, as there are certain execution issues which we
are dealing with and that is preventing us from going at a certain pace. We
have to plan this transition very carefully, because if we phase out fossil
fuels too rapidly and the renewables are not able to phase in fast enough then
it will have a fundamental problem.”
Narain added that
while coal had been phased out by countries which have currently contributed
the most to greenhouse gas emissions, now the onus suddenly lies upon the
remaining 70% of the world to do the same, which she believes is unfair.
“Essentially, this
means that 70 per cent of the world which has not contributed to the stock of
greenhouse gases -- which is least capable of moving out of its current energy
security, which is based on coal, the onus of change is put on them. One needs
to move towards looking at gas and coal together. Delhi has banned coal within
a 100km radius, due to high pollution levels. We want industries to move
towards gas, but the gas prices are so high today, largely because of the fact
that today, all the gas in the world is going towards countries willing to pay
more.” she said.
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