The momentum of economic development globally has led to disturbing inequities that are now beginning to threaten the environmental balance in the world, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Mr Ashok Lavasa said at the CII Annual Climate Change Conclave on “Strategic And Policy Initiatives and the Way Forward”, here today. Striking a cautious note he said that one such initiative, the Green climate Fund, has still to gain traction despite commitments by developed countries.
Speaking to industry leaders and experts in the climate change space, Secretary Lavasa said that there was an urgent need to address the inequity issue which requires huge resource deployment. “The Green Climate Fund which was set up has not witnessed much traction wih only about $10 billion in the pool vis-à-vis a commitment of $100 billion annually. This support is critical to address climate change,” he added.
Emphasising the need to raise financial resources, he said, “the requirement of resources is of the order of several billions of dollars. While a combination of budgetary resources, market friendly schemes and promoters’ own resources are being utilized, it is also critical to raise resources globally. This is important if developing and least developing countries are to achieve their development goals.
Speaking on the growing need of resources Mr Lavasa said; “According to the recent findings of the Intergovernmental Expert Group under the United Nations, “almost $66 billion of financial resources are required annually in case development has to take place and inequities minimized. Similarly for infrastructure an estimated $8-10 trillion are needed annually if deficiencies are to be bridged.”
Outlining some steps that the Government and industry have taken, he said, “In India, a number of initiatives are ongoing under the National Action Plan on Climate Change. In fact, several of these initiatives have been converted into National Missions which are at different stages of implementation. The National Mission on Enhanced Energy Mission has been a lynch pin of this entire effort and the industry has played a positive and constructive role in fulfilling the goals of this Mission. The Government is now looking at expanding the scope of this Mission. The National Solar Mission is also another very key programme of the Government where the target has been increased from 20 GW to an ambitious 100 GW. As part of the National Green Mission, huge tracts of land will be taken up under the afforestation program. The Government is now working to create models which will enable private sector participation. Clearly, these initiatives demonstrate efforts to address climate change.
Looking at national interest beyond the global negotiations, Dr Ashok Khosla, Chairman, Development Alternatives, said, “To attain a sustainable growth decoupling is the only answer where with the growth in GDP the use of resources decline. Though there have been indications that there has been some degree of relative decoupling but what we need is absolute decoupling. While a developing country like India can look at undertaking relative decoupling but it is critical for industrialized countries to find ways to absolute decoupling and resource use decline in absolute terms. Since business as usual is not possible, there is a need for structural transformation with innovation in technology & institution and change in human behavior.”
Elaborating on some possible mechanisms that could be considered, Mr Sunil Wadhwa, Co-Chairman, CII Climate Change Council and Managing Director, IL&FS Energy Development Company Ltd said, “If the impact of development on the environment has to be shared equitably, then globally, we can look at putting in place a carbon tax similar to what is in place in India in the form of the National Clean Energy Fund. This will ensure that the end consumer pays. On the solar front, the Government has set an ambitious target of 100,000 MW by 2020. While there is potential in India to do considerably more, storage technologies would become critical. Given the context of equity, can developed countries provide storage technologies for India. Not many green initiatives will have a business case and therefore carbon markets need to be revived. Globally, there is a need to look at the Clean Development Mechanism. In addition, in India, per capita emissions should be the yardstick till 2040/2050 and beyond that India could look abatement in absolute terms.”
Further discussing on how global companies doing business in the defence sector in India could offset their obligations, he said, “We could look at how the offset obligations of these companies can be converted to an obligation to do green business in India, particularly in manufacturing clean technology devices or solar panels and also generate employment.”
Speaking on progress in this segment, Mr Subodh Kumar Agarwal, Executive, Programmes, Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung fur die Freiheit, said, “Solutions need to be a balance between economic and ecological concerns. The private sector can play a significant role to address the energy concerns by providing market based solutions without being further detrimental to the environment.”
Mentioning CII’s role in this area, Seema Arora, Executive Director, CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development said, “CII has been working in the area of sustainable Development and through our Green Building Centre, we now have helped create a footprint of over 2 billion square feet in green buildings. We have also worked closely with the Government to make the environment and clearance procedure more streamlined. Industry plays a very positive role as a solution provider for mitigating climate change. On the global negotiations front, while both Lima and the run up to Paris will be important, it is the road beyond Paris that will be extremely critical.”
Diversity has always been the backbone of innovation in India. In solving the challenges of development, demography, and disparity, will need expansion, excellence and equity. Today, as a nation of a connected billion, a first in the history of the world, we need to leverage emerging technologies, including social media, to help alleviate the enormous problem of poverty.
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