Events

The Centre for Policy Research, in collaboration with GLOBE INDIA organised an interactive discussion on the road ahead for India’s climate change policy with Hon’ble Members of Parliament on 12th August 2014 in New Delhi.

THE CONTEXT

The global climate change regime will be shaped in the next eighteen months, leading to a key meeting of states in Paris in December 2015. India has considerable stakes in the outcome:

1. India is one of the most vulnerable countries to future climate change. As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change points out, climate change will make the task of development harder, and lead to risks of lower agricultural yields, water scarcity, and severe weather events. India has a stake in an effective climate regime that lowers these risks;
2. India also, however, needs to steeply increase access to and use of energy resources and in all likelihood these include fossil fuel resources. India needs to pay attention to the implications of the future climate regime for our energy future.

THE ISSUES

Of the several issues that are salient for climate debates over the next year and half, three are particularly salient:

1. Indian “contributions”: while climate change is often viewed as a foreign policy issue, it also carries serious implications for energy policy and, through adaptation concerns, for water, agriculture and many other sectors. The 2015 climate agreement will be built on “nationally determined contributions” from all countries. These contributions could include greenhouse gas reductions and address adaptation, finance, technology and capacity. These contributions are to be submitted in early 2015. Ideally, these national contributions should be strongly shaped by domestic priorities, and reflect a strategic approach. Preparation for such “contributions” has only just been initiated. What should inform, drive and motivate India’s contributions?
2. Equity, Differentiation and Effectiveness: a significant issue for Paris 2015 is to assess the aggregate effect of countries’ contributions. How will these add up to what is required to meet the agreed temperature goal? Is there a way to benchmark what countries say they will do against India’s long-standing concern of ensuring an equitable climate agreement that differentiates suitably between countries with different responsibilities and capacities?
3. Shifting global politics: For India to safeguard our interests on the above, and many other issues, will require skilful handling of a changing geopolitical context for climate talks. Most important, China and the US increasingly appear to be reaching a bilateral agreement, which risks changing the basis for our ongoing alliance with China. India is currently allied with some oil producing countries, who have more to lose than to gain from successful climate talks, while India, along with other vulnerable countries, could have much to gain in terms of diminished vulnerability. What larger geopolitical strategy should inform our climate stance?

The discussion focused on both the domestic and foreign policy issues that India faces in refining our climate policy and strategy for the coming eighteen months.  The discussion was led by Navroz K. Dubash, Senior Fellow at CPR and Lavanya Rajamani, Professor at CPR.