Li Tao: To fulfill its commitment to reduce emissions, India has to cross several hurdles

Source: Global Times

The United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Glasgow (COP26) closed on the 13th after an extension of one day. The meeting completed the six-year-long negotiation of the implementation rules of the Paris Agreement, and reached more than 50 resolutions, including the relatively balanced political outcome document "Glasgow Climate Agreement", laying the foundation for the full and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement. Because India proposed at the last minute to revise the words to reduce carbon emissions from coal combustion, from "phase-out" to "gradual reduction", it has caused dissatisfaction in some Western countries and environmentalists.

Promote emissions reductions on your own terms

In fact, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi suddenly announced at the climate summit that India will achieve the goal of "zero carbon emissions" by 2070, which is very different from the tough rejection attitude of India's environment minister and other senior officials. India's domestic public opinion generally supports this commitment made by the Modi government, and even some Indian media that are critical of the Modi government because of the poor epidemic prevention and control and the economic downturn have also praised it on this issue. Why do India's commitments to emissions reductions and efforts based on domestic realities resonate differently at home and abroad?

First, India has a strong will to reduce emissions. From the perspective of India's traditional cultural philosophy, the principle of emission reduction is the spiritual heritage of the sustainable lifestyle advocated by Gandhi. Moreover, India is one of the countries in the world most affected by environmental pollution and climate disasters, and ecological problems have a profound impact on its social development, and even the capital New Delhi is often affected by smog. India supports emission reductions, but insists on promoting emission reductions in its own way and in its own way and planning – adhering to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, pursuing per capita emissions and historical emissions as the responsibility criteria for emission reduction, and adhering to the concept of "emission reduction cannot affect development" in terms of policy orientation.

Second, we hope to reduce international pressure through the Zero Carbon Commitment. With more than 130 countries around the world publicly committed to setting emissions reduction targets, and India becoming the only one among the top ten economies to refuse, the pressure and impact on Modi, who has "great power ambitions", is self-evident. Moreover, India not only wants to increase its influence on climate issues, but even wants to become the "bellwether" of the Southern Group and SAARC.

Third, through emission reduction, to achieve the "latecomer advantage" of economic development. Indian scholars believe that the Modi government's commitment is to follow the logic of green development – to get things done the first time, rather than trying to make a long-overdue "transformation" at a huge cost. This can better highlight India's latecomer advantage.

India's call on developed countries to provide $1 trillion in climate financing "as soon as possible" is not only a call on behalf of developing countries, but also an objective demand for India's own energy conservation and emission reduction. Indian scholars believe that while India's commitments do not seem to be directly related to developed countries, the issue of ecology is global and the net zero target will be part of India's development agenda, closely related to global support and cooperation.

There are no small challenges

India's Zero Carbon Commitment has difficulties, but there is a basis for its realization. At present, a large number of households in India still use traditional biomass energy as a living fuel, and after years of national guidance, most of the new investment in India ( especially private investment ) is flowing to the renewable energy sector. According to the forecast of India's Central Electricity Authority, the installed solar capacity in India may greatly exceed the installed capacity of coal by the end of 2030. Of course, India still faces no small challenges in achieving the promised goals.

First of all, how to deal with the relationship between development and emission reduction. In 2014, Modi proposed "Made in India", with the goal of raising the level of innovation, reducing environmental pollution and increasing jobs. By 2040, India will become the world's energy consumption giant, accounting for nearly 25% of the world's new energy consumption, and the national coal demand will be 2.7 times the current level. India is the world's second largest producer and consumer of coal, and Coal India is the world's largest coal producer, with about 4 million people working in jobs directly or indirectly related to coal in India. As the economy grows, sectors such as construction, steel and cement will also grow rapidly in areas that are particularly difficult to decarbonize. It can be said that India is still in a period of high-speed accumulation of energy consumption stocks, and its rigid growth space and amplitude are greater.

Second, there is an urgent need to establish relevant environmental laws. In the past, the fundamental considerations for India to formulate and implement policies to deal with climate change focused on balancing the stable "security ties" between water, energy and food, and paid too much attention to geosecurity. Some Indian experts have suggested that the trend of weakening environmental laws must be reversed and that the relationship between nature and people must be protected. In addition, there is a need to promote the establishment of relevant emission reduction agencies and close cooperation with each other to transform the current "passive decision-making into active planning and implementation".

Third, the imbalance in regional development has led to great differences in energy access, use and energy infrastructure construction in local states, central jurisdictions and capitals, which has affected the improvement of energy development efficiency. For example, while afforestation projects in southern India have been successful, the range of forest vegetation in the northeast is shrinking.

China and India are partners in emission reduction

China and India are both developing countries and close neighbors of Asia. China is a beneficiary, supporter and collaborator of India's emission reductions.

First, China and India should continue to strengthen cooperation in international climate negotiations. In the past, the Basic Four (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) have worked well together in international climate negotiations. In recent years, due to the different levels of development between China and India, there have been slight differences in emission reduction demands, and the spillover of the Sino-Indian border conflict has dragged down the climate cooperation between the two sides, but the two countries have common demands on related issues, and consolidating and strengthening the cooperation between the two countries on climate is not only conducive to safeguarding the development rights and interests of developing countries and promoting South-South cooperation, but also conducive to the healthy development of bilateral relations.

Second, attach importance to technology sharing and cooperation in low-carbon energy. As major coal consumers, China and India are also very important in cooperation in the international coal market and clean coal technology. China is currently ahead of India in terms of technology and market for renewable energy utilization, and there is room for cooperation between the two sides.

Third, guide financial institutions to invest in green. Large-scale climate finance is a prerequisite for net-zero transformation and innovative emissions reductions. Make full use of the AIIB, the BRICS Bank and the China Climate Change South-South Cooperation Fund to strengthen low-carbon financial cooperation between China and India in addressing climate change, improve the financing capacity of projects to deal with climate change, increase support for low-carbon energy in South Asian countries such as India, and invest in clean energy in the form of solar, wind, nuclear and biomass energy. (The author is the chief expert of the National Social Science Foundation major project of the Institute of South Asian Studies of Sichuan University "Trans-Himalayan Cooperative Research in the Context of the 'Belt and Road'")