Climate justice agenda at COP27

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

Context:

• The COP27 can serve as a platform for India to rally for climate justice and further its climate agenda during its upcoming G20 presidency.

Better allocation of responsibility:

• While India is third among the highest carbon emitting countries in the world, appraising the nation’s performance from the perspective of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) presents a completely different picture. 
• Responsibility for climate action is better allocated based on an appraisal underlined by the CBDR principle since such appraisal takes into account the share in historical emissions.
• Further, demographic concerns such as population, levels of economic growth and human development; and the financial, technological, and scientific capacity to embrace a green transition.

Ensure climate justice:

• While CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels and industrial processes dominate the composition of GHG emissions, the global warming capacity of non-carbon GHG emissions from sectors such as land use is significantly higher and critically important for countries with a large primary sector. 
• Progress made in terms of energy efficiency of production and renewable energy consumption as a share of total final consumption catalyses the speed of the green transition.
• The principle of climate justice demands that nations be compared in terms of per capita emission levels rather than total emissions.

India is frontrunner:

• India emerges as the frontrunner among the G20 members in terms of the Climate Performance.
•  India ranks first among the G20 members in terms of the following indicators: per capita CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion, per capita non-carbon GHG emissions, the share of global cumulative carbon emissions relative to the share of the global cumulative population, rate of per capita energy-use relative to 2000 watts, and percentage change in climate regulating land cover. 
• India also ranks second among G20 members in its performance relating to renewable energy consumption as a share of total final energy consumption. 
• The nation comes third among G20 nations in terms of its performance relating to climate policy coverage and climate-altering land cover. 
• However, in terms of the carbon cost of growth, India achieved relative decoupling and is outperformed by other G20 nations which have achieved absolute decoupling.

Towards mission LiFE:

• India and the United Nations jointly launched Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) recently, anchored in SDG 12 i.e., Sustainable Consumption and Production. 
• This aligns with limiting and altogether concluding overconsumption of materials and energy. 
• India can advocate greater support for and adoption of Mission LiFE among other nations at the COP27 summit.

Conclusion:

• Developing countries require support in terms of climate finance, technology transfer, knowledge sharing and exchange of best practices in formulating green growth policies, and thereby reducing the carbon cost of growth. 
• Thus, India can throw light on the need for extending such support to developing countries at the COP27 summit.