Climate change push

Pvt sector participation is a welcome step

In a noteworthy coincidence, the US formalised its exit from the Paris agreement on climate change last week to save its industry from slashing its carbon footprint whereas Indian corporate houses came forward voluntarily to cut down their emissions to help the country meet its climate-related obligations. Twenty-four leading private business houses issued a joint declaration on climate change, vowing to take the needed measures to achieve carbon neutrality. The modus operandi would be to set achievable targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and energy-efficiency enhancement. The climate change mitigation measures to achieve the goals would include greater use of renewable energy; enhancing energy- and material-use efficiency; deploying water-efficient processes; sustainable and green mobility; planned afforestation; and waste recycling.

Interestingly, while the government has asked the private sector’s CEO Forum on Climate Change, which is spearheading this initiative, to suggest the actions required to be taken by it, the forum, on its part, has offered to develop work plans and submit reports to the environment ministry. This should help forge better cohesion between official climate mitigation programmes and those of the private sector, which is vital to keep India on track to meet its obligations under the Paris agreement on climate change.

The overarching objective of the Paris accord, signed in 2015, is to restrict the rise in the global temperature to below 2 degrees Celsius from the pre-industrial levels. This is the threshold beyond which global warming would begin, causing unendurable ecological and economic consequences. However, unlike most other international treaties which moot common targets for all participants,, the Paris accord leaves it to each country to fix its nationally determined contributions to combat climate change and report the progress to the United Nations. Concerted efforts by all the countries are, therefore, imperative to face this formidable challenge, though the actions taken by China and the US matter more than those of the others because they are the world’s largest polluters. No doubt, the US, under the outgoing President Donald Trump, has quit the Paris accord but indications are that it would return to it after President-elect Joe Biden assumes office.

Though India is often projected as the third-largest polluter, its share in the world is only 6 per cent. Yet, New Delhi has made three significant commitments under its nationally defined contributions. These are: Reducing the emissions intensity of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 33 to 35 per cent from the 2005 levels by 2030; increasing the share of renewable energy in power production to 40 per cent; and creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes through additional forest and tree cover. These targets looked rather ambitious to begin with. But that does not seem to be the case anymore, thanks to the perceptible progress made on some fronts, notably in the field of renewable power and cleaner vehicular fuels. Business practice has often been associated with environmental pollution and degradation. So the willingness of domestic industry to collaborate with the government in this endeavour would now be a reassuring factor as the private sector can be a critical partner in delivering effective development cooperation on environmental issues. The captains of the private sector deserve kudos for this.