Vantage | India's crucial role at COP28 and fight against climate change

The COP28 summit in Dubai is the world’s biggest and most important climate meeting. As our world warms up, its trajectory will be decided right here. So, the stakes are high. As many as 140 heads of states are attending the summit, with India playing a crucial role at this summit. To understand this one must understand the powerplay at the Conference of the Parties. Developing countries need to unite and make a push. Force the richer states to do more — to pay more for climate action. As climate change is everyone’s problem, fighting it is everyone’s job. But it is not an equal job. The rich, developed nations have a bigger role to play here. After all, they have caused most of the emissions. They also have greater resources to fix it. So they must bear the bulk of the responsibility to act.

Where does India figure in this? India is at the forefront of demanding accountability. Historically, right from the inception of the COP, India has been trying to ensure the accountability of the developed nations time and again. New Delhi has taken centre stage to say that the burden of climate change can’t disproportionately fall on developing nations. We saw this in 1997 — at COP 3 — when India played a lead role in the Kyoto Protocol. Where developed nations were allotted specific goals to curb emissions. Meanwhile, developing countries like India were free to take the steps they deemed fit called “nationally appropriate” climate actions. This year’s summit comes with a similar opportunity. New Delhi can serve as a bridge between wealthier nations and the Global South. In fact, India is the best placed to do this. It is the world’s fifth largest economy having global influence and heft. And it has used it to give a voice to the Global South. We saw this in 2020, during the pandemic, India lobbied the World Trade Organisation to make vaccines and treatments more accessible. With climate issues as well, in recent years, India has become more assertive in showcasing its own narrative. We saw this in 2021, at COP26, at the last minute, India blocked the final draft outcome. The term “phase out” of coal, or its complete cessation, was changed to “phase down” which meant a structured reduction in the use of coal. At COP27 in Egypt, India remained consistent. It campaigned for phase down of all fossil fuels. Something that is too difficult to digest for many countries. During its G20 presidency, India has pushed for more climate financing, and clean energy investments. It pledged to infuse 25 million dollars and become an anchor investor in the International Solar Alliance to help the private sector invest in solar projects in Africa. Now, at COP28, New Delhi seems poised to rise to the occasion again. India has submitted a report to the UN, assessing global progress on climate change, listing expectations of developing nations, calling wealthier nations to move faster, and demanding more accountability from them. So by the looks of it, India is seizing the opportunity, proving that it can lead the Global South, especially, because of how far it has come — India has cut greenhouse emissions by 33 per cent in just 14 years. Thanks to the government’s push towards renewable energy, today renewable energy accounts for over 25 per cent of India’s power generation. But despite changes, India is the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. About 73 per cent of its electricity is produced using coal. But this is owed to India’s size and population. So in per capita terms India’s emissions are low, almost less than half of the global average. Being one of the greatest emitters, with far-reaching global influence, India is a crucial player. In this battle against a shared threat, India is on the frontlines. Its win could forge cooperation, uniting the wealthy and developing nations. In this climate war unity is the need of the hour. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._