On road to COP-26 India has been participating in the COPs actively and adhering to the decisions taken at each COP and making sincere efforts to incorporate the leading decisions in its national policies. The COP-26 that was scheduled to be held in 2020 had to be postponed in the wake of global spread of COVID-19 pandemic and thereafter it was scheduled to be held at Glasgow (UK) on 31 October-12 November 2021. While welcoming the schedule of convening of the COP-26, India has declared its decision to take active part in this climate summit.
COP-26 is being held at a very crucial time when the world is being confronted with multiple types of problems arising from the vagaries of climate change and these problems, inter alia, include global warming, increasing temperatures and resultant heat waves, incessant rains causing severe floods, ocean warming and rising sea levels, augmentation in extreme weather events, depletion of natural resources along with land degradation, droughts and other severe hardships for the vulnerable communities that are exposed to the vagaries of climate change. Besides, with the official implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change since 2020, emphasis on taking the world towards the goal of 1.50C assumes added significance. All these issues are likely to be focused on in the upcoming COP-26 that may also be tasked with the onus of finalizing the Rulebook for Paris Agreement.
India’s Possible Stance at COP-26
Undoubtedly, India’s official stance at COP-26 will be finalized by Government of India on October 27, there are plenty of hints in the media reports that focus on probable stance that India may take at the upcoming summit. Attention is also focused on the possible stance India may take at the COP-26 because it is one among the countries like Australia, China and Russia that have yet to make new pledges to cut their emissions. Admittedly, the avowed objective of the Paris Agreement is to prevent the average global temperature from rising more than 1.50 C comparable with levels prior to the Industrial Revolution. According to many scientists, 1.50 C is the threshold beyond which the dangers of global warming – such as deadly heat waves, water scarcity, crop failures and ecosystem deterioration – grow profoundly.
According to a media report, India is unlikely to commit to the 2050 ‘net zero’ goal, and along with other developing counties, may probably ask developed countries to aim for carbon neutrality much earlier than mid-century, taking into consideration their own combined historical emissions. Besides, the possibility of India emphasizing the significance of the developed nations complying with the principle of ‘shared but differentiated responsibility’, as well as the urgency to deliver on climate change mitigation finance, cannot be ruled out. On an optimistic note, the media report also informs that India can make additional commitments or announcements, considering its overachievement of 2030 pledges and ambitious renewable energy goals of 450 GW and aligning with the 2047 timeline, coinciding it with the centenary of India’s independence.
Many media reports citing and quoting environment experts and observers aver that India is also likely to raise the issue of compensation for the losses caused by climate disasters at the COP-26. Another media report citing a statement of a senior official of the Ministry of Environment stated that India stands with other low-income and developing countries on the matter of compensation and in this regard many experts argue that emphasis on compensation for climate disasters is expected to be a major issue at the COP-26.
Undoubtedly, the 2015 Paris Agreement incorporated language to address “loss and damage” but the question of liability and redress was left unanswered, irrespective of the fact that deliberations had commenced as early as 2013 at the 2013 Warsaw climate summit; nonetheless, the technical details with regard to amount of money to be transferred have not yet been finalized. According to some experts, the underlying idea behind the compensation is that, based on historical contributions to global greenhouse gases, countries will make available monetary compensation for the damages to be caused by pollution. Therefore, the countries that have undergone or are undergoing adverse impacts of climate change can then stake claim to compensation in the aftermath of a climate-induced disaster.
Under the prevailing circumstances, India is said to be the third largest emitter on an annual basis, and ranks amongst the top ten historical emitters, and as such, India will have to contribute to the Compensation Fund. In this regard, some experts are of the view that given that India’s pay-in for damages were roughly 4%, India still would stand to gain in terms of getting a larger pay-out for the losses it will incur.
With India emphasizing on transfer of technology and climate finance from developed to developing countries, the COP-26 is likely to witness a hectic and thought-provoking session, especially when India’s Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addresses it.
