New Delhi:
Climate change is a global challenge and should be seen as a common problem on which the entire planet must work together, but it is becoming increasingly entangled in the web of whose responsibility it is: the developed world or the developing world, including the Global South. . The other challenge we face is sharing technology and financing the shift from fossil fuels to environmentally friendly methods.
Speaking at the NDTV World Summit, Harjeet Singh, Global Engagement Director of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, highlighted the trust deficit towards the developed world and their responsibility, or lack thereof, which must be addressed on a priority basis .
“The trust deficit has a reason,” he said, clarifying, “As we see that India and other developing countries are under enormous pressure to move away from fossil fuels, and they must, but the reality is that there is still millions do not have access to energy in the developing world and need support, but by comparison the developed world continues to increase its consumption of fossil fuels.”
“If you look at the global expansion of fossil fuels, you see that Australia, Canada, Norway, Britain and the US together are responsible for more than 50 percent of the planet’s fossil fuel expansion between now and 2050 – that is where the The deficit of trust stems from the fact that they are not willing to share technology or help with finances, he further said, adding that they are not willing to share technology or help with finances.
While he welcomed the new UK government’s decision to stop issuing new permits for fossil fuel power stations, he stressed that the permits already issued in recent years will have a huge negative impact on the climate for decades to come . “The trust deficit is a real problem that needs to be addressed as developed countries have failed to act on their historic responsibility and contribute their fair share to the climate challenge, but continue to pressure developing countries to do more even without to provide assistance. with technology or finance.”
Adding to this, another panellist, Shishir Priyadarshi, Chairman of Chintan Research Foundation, said: “There are many lessons to be learned from the way the trade agenda was drafted at the WTO in 1995 when working on the climate agenda. Why the creation of the WTO led to a huge trade deficit was due to two reasons: first, the developed world made big promises to developing countries if they would simply lower tariffs and open markets, and second, the developed world said, ‘we know it’ and ‘we will tell you how to do it and what to do’, and that is something that has led to a huge lack of trust. That is something we must avoid when setting the climate agenda.
DEVELOPING COUNTRY DOING MUCH MORE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE
Mr Priyadarchi highlighted how “developing countries have done and continue to do much more to tackle climate change.”
Citing the example of India, he said: “India has committed $2.5 trillion of investments in climate finance between 2015 and 2030 – that is huge,” he said, adding that “we (developing countries like India) are ready to to travel the highway towards zero emissions. and we are absolutely with you (the developed world), but we will do it at our speed. You can’t tell us at what speed changes need to be made, or tell us this is the limited number of pit stops along the way will certainly get there, but we need the flexibility and support.” If this is done, it will be the ‘trust deficit’ drastically reduce.
Providing a perspective from developed countries, British High Commissioner to India Lindy Cameron said: “Our Foreign Secretary had recently said that he had heard that developing countries believed the system was not working for them. I understand it’s important that we recognize that, but what we need to recognize is that we all live on the same planet, and we need to recognize that in Britain we have set ambitious targets, such as net-zero emissions by 2050.”
She also said, “After six months in India, I really believe that India is the place where this (climate action) is going to happen. This is the place, as this is the country that matters most for the future of the planet and for climate change, because India’s ambition for development should in no way be limited by the responsibilities of the planet.”
She further said: “We are committed to reforms such as making more affordable financing available to developing countries. And we are also working on technology and research here in India to ensure we can support the incredibly ambitious goals that India has set. “
The fourth panelist, Erik Solheim, former Minister of Climate and Environment of Norway, praised China and India for their tremendous achievements on climate action goals. Speaking at the NDTV World Summit, he said: “No one should blame India or the developing countries, especially in countries like the US where per capita emissions are 25 times that of India. The state of Gujarat alone has set a target of producing 100 gigawatts of clean energy. energy in 2030. This is huge. It is twenty times the size of the entire energy network of Nigeria – the largest country in Africa.”
He further said, “Forget the whole of India and what the rest of the country is doing, but if you see just the state of Gujarat… if it were a nation, it would be the 8th largest in terms of green energy.”
He also had high praise for China, saying, “China is responsible for 60% of all green energy today and the rest of the world is the remaining 40%. India is second only to China.”
He also praised Indonesia, which he said has “reduced deforestation to zero and made it the largest rainforest nation in the world.”
“If someone had asked me ten years ago where to go to see climate progress, I would have said please go to Brussels, Berlin, Geneva or Paris, but today I would say go see what Beijing, Delhi or Jakarta,” he concluded.