India at COP26: Modi’s Global Stance Must Also Match His Domestic Policies

Despite ambitious announcements, India's domestic policies don’t treat climate change as a real threat.

There is a gap between international announcements and domestic action.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

There has been much euphoria among those following the Conference of Parties on Climate Change in Glasgow. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of five commitments caught even those involved in climate issues by pleasant surprise. India clearly has succeeded in projecting itself as a nation that is willing to walk the talk and take a lead in mitigating climate risk, despite the fact that its contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions is comparatively less than other countries.

There is, however, a gap between international announcements and domestic action. Environmental issues cannot – and should not – be looked only through the lens of carbon. Even more important is to keep in mind that more than ‘mitigation’, what matters the most for those living in India is how far domestic policies and action take into consideration the loss and damage that is occurring on a daily basis due to climate change.

Optimism Should be Based on Facts

Those who predict that the peak with respect to coal and fossil fuel will be reached by 2040 tend to undermine the fact that a whole generation that will be born during the week of COP26 will have to bear the harmful impact arising out of the use of polluting coal and other fossil fuels for the next two decades. And those who are rejoicing at the thought that 50% of India’s electricity requirement will be met through non-fossil fuel energy have overlooked the social and environmental effects that will take place as a result of solar and wind parks that will span thousands of hectares of land or pristine forest, which will be submerged and people displaced as a result of the construction of hydropower – which is non-fossil energy.

Some of the civil society delegates at COP26, especially from many of the environmental think tanks, seem to be rather optimistic about the climate goals announced by the government. There is nothing wrong in being optimistic. Optimism is what is needed to halt climate change. However, optimism has to be based on some factual reality – one that is based on social, economic, political and administrative reality. Despite the fact that India has claimed to meet its Paris Agreement commitments, it must not be forgotten that climate change issues are not just related to emissions, energy mix, carbon space and finance.

India’s Climate Action Plan Lacks Teeth

As a nation, India’s first action on climate is how to prevent its people from the harmful impacts due to the changing climate. Let us not forget that when (and if) the target of net-zero emissions will be achieved in 2070, a large number of cities in India, including Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai may be underwater. Assessment data from NASA as well as other agencies clearly show that many Indian cities and coastal areas will be underwater by 2050. The Ministry of Earth Sciences in its report has stated that with a temperature rise of nearly 4 degrees by end of the century, many of the cities in India will become unlivable.

Given India’s low contribution to global greenhouse gases – both historically and even in the future – the discussion on climate change needs to focus more on issues other than mitigation, viz. adaptation and building resilience. Becoming a role model for the global north by adopting mitigation strategies and targets will not solve the problems arising every day due to erratic and unseasonal rain, excessive heat and humidity and an increase in cyclones.

The fact of the matter is that renewables make more sense today not because it is environmentally friendly, but because it makes business and technological sense.

India’s National Action Plan on Climate may seem to be a robust document, but it lacks any teeth. It is only a policy document and has not been issued under any statutory law. Thus, there is no way a citizen can compel the government to ensure that it implements what is stated in the Climate Action Plan. Attempts by concerned individuals to approach the court to seek its implementation have not met with any success in view of the fact that it is not legally enforceable.

Domestic Policies Are Oblivious of a Very Real Threat

The key to dealing with climate change is not headline-grabbing targets but how seriously climate change issues are a part of domestic policy and action. Unfortunately, climate change is yet to be regarded as a ‘crisis of the present’ – it is still seen as a ‘crisis of the future’. It is for this reason that India’s planning process for infrastructure projects or legal and policy action initiatives related to the environment and natural resources fail to even acknowledge that a crisis like climate change exists.

It is, therefore, no surprise that approvals for coastal infrastructure in the form of ports, coastal highways, and power plants, which are part of India’s ambitious ‘Sagarmala project’ make no mention of the risk arising out of increased cyclones or rising sea level. The proposed amendments to the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, are aimed at ensuring that it becomes easier for both the government and private entities to destroy forests.

Despite clear, scientific proof that mangroves are effective shock absorbers against cyclones, there has been a systematic dilution of the Coastal Regulation Zone notification by allowing post facto approval, which will both facilitate and legitimise the destruction of mangroves.

The proposed changes to the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) law make no mention of how decisions related to large projects will factor in climate change. In fact, if one looks at the draft EIA, it is clear that the main aim is to exempt most projects from any kind of environmental scrutiny, let alone climate change.

People Will Be In Direct Danger

India’s track record in meeting environmental targets has been dismal. India’s National Clean Air Plan (NCAP), launched in 2019, aimed at a 20 per cent to 30 per cent reduction in PM2.5 by 2024 in select cities. It has remained a non-starter. Despite mandatory requirement under NCAP, not a single state has prepared a State Action Plan for clean air. The 2015 Emission Standards for coal-fired power plants, issued by the Environment Ministry, were aimed at reducing harmful pollutants from power plants and water consumption, thereby providing immense health benefits to communities. They were to come into effect from December 2017. But the timelines have been repeatedly extended in order to benefit power companies, and as of now, it is not clear as to whether it will ever be complied with.

Over the last many years, the Central government has been repeatedly making efforts to exempt the building and construction sector – among the largest contributors to GHG emission – from the purview of environmental laws.

If India is serious about dealing with the issue of climate change, it must put in place a realistic, implementable action plan at the domestic level to protect its citizen from climate change. It must create and strengthen institutions that take decisions having an impact on climate. This will involve accepting that climate change is a reality of the present, not of 2050, 2070 or 2030. India is facing an onslaught of floods, droughts, forest fires, cyclones, eroding coasts and melting glaciers.

These combined with air and water pollution and increased temperature will make life difficult for people in large parts of India, making internal migration inevitable, as well as lead to other more serious consequences.

Our Development Plans Need Climate-Proofing

Concepts such as climate-proofing, a process that integrates climate change mitigation and adaptation measures into the development of infrastructure projects, must be an integral part of our planning process.

In a few weeks, the Glasgow COP 26 Conference will no longer be the focus of discussion or media attention.

Given the bold announcement by the government, one can hope that climate change concerns start becoming an integral part of the developmental planning and implementation process and do not lose out to the three factors that have driven environmental decision-making in recent times – ‘ease of doing business’, and ‘strategic’ and ‘security’ concerns.

The chances of the latter three guiding India’s developmental and environmental strategy are, unfortunately, very high.

If the government wants to walk the talk, it is important to have a ‘nation first’ policy – a policy that protects the citizens of this nation, including its flora and fauna, from the impact of climate change. This is true climate nationalism.

(Ritwick Dutta is an environmental lawyer and founder of LIFE, an Indian non-profit organisation. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)