Climate change narrative

(Mains GS 3 : Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.)

Context:

•  A recent report released by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) named as “Assessment of Climate Change over the Indian Region” revealed that India has warmed up 0.7° C during 1901-2018. 

Increasing temperature:

• The 2010-2019 decade was the hottest showing an increase in mean temperature of 0.36° C higher than average.
• Assessment by the MoES shows that India may experience a 4.4° C rise by the end of this century.
• Greenhouse gas emission steadily increases despite lower activities during covid times.
• Prolonged heat waves are becoming detrimental to public health and becoming life threatening.

Rise in extreme events:

• In the last decade, India has witnessed some very severe climate events which hamper growth and cause mass destruction of life and property.
• Super-cyclone “Cyclone Amphan” that hit India in 2020 was cost more than USD13 billion. 
• Country also witnessed severe flooding during “June-October Monsoon Flooding” that cost USD10 billion and around 1,600 lives. 
• This June-October Monsoon Flooding was India’s heaviest monsoon rain in the last 25 years and the world’s seventh costliest. 
• India also suffered from two more cyclones in 2021 named Cyclone Tauktae hitting the west coast and Cyclone Yaas from the east.

Increasing displacement:

• According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, India’s Internally Displaced Populations (IDPs) are increasing due to damaging climate events. 
• Kedarnath floods and rising precipitation every year leads to deserting homes by people in Uttarakhand.
• Reports suggested that upto 2050, rainfall is expected to rise by 6% and temperature by 1.6° C.
• Further coastal erosion due to climate change induced sea-level rise, land erosion and natural disasters such as tropical cyclones between 1990-2016 increase problem manifold 
• Figures expected to be increased upto 3.6 million out of 170 million living in coastal areas were displaced between 2008-2018. 

Droughts in deccan plateau:

• India’s Deccan plateau has seen severe droughts which lead to families deserting homes from Maharashtra and Karnataka (the heart of the Deccan Plateau) due to acute water crisis.
• Case study: Hatkarwadi village in Beed district of Maharashtra State had only 10-15 families remaining where previous population count of 2,000 people.

India's engagement:

• India ranked at 10th position in the global Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2021 released in Germany recently.
• This is the second year in a row that India has remained in the top 10 position in the list of countries to have adopted substantial measures to mitigate climate change.
• India worked with COP21 by signing the Paris Agreement to limit global warming.
• India submitted its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) with a goal of reducing emissions intensity of GDP by 33%-35% and increasing green energy resources (non-fossil-oil based) to 40% of installed electric power capacity by 2030.
• In 2015, India along with France formed the International Solar Alliance (ISA) which is a coalition of about 120 countries with solar rich resources.
• ISA  aims at mobilising USD1 trillion in investments for the deployment of solar energy at affordable prices by 2030.
• These global alliances and leading policies seem to be merely big promises with little implementation.

 Achieving targets:

• Experts view that India is not fully compliant with the Paris Agreement’s long-term temperature goal of the NDCs.
• According to India’s carbon emission trajectory, the country is en route to achieve barely half of the pledged carbon sink by 2030.
• Thus to achieve the Paris Agreement’s NDC target, India is required to produce 25 million-30 million hectares of forest cover by 2030.

The utility of COP26:

• The Glasgow COP26 offers India a great opportunity to reflect on the years since the Paris Agreement and update NDCs to successfully meet the set targets.
• India is expected to be the most populated country by 2027, overtaking China, contributing significantly to the global climate through its consumption pattern.
• India is in a unique position to have a significant influence on global climate impact in the new decade.

 Conclusion:

• India believes that climate actions must be nationally determined with having  UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement at the core of decision-making.
• By leading in climate goals, India will not only save itself from further climate disasters but also be a leader in the path to climate change prevention.