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The many famous and distinguished heads coming together in Paris this week may well be the reflections of a famous sculpture by street artist Isaac Cordal, dubbed ‘Politicians debating climate change’. Though much has been promised by countries, the tone and tenor of the annual UN climate change conference appears not to have changed.
Developing nations want help to combat the effects of climate change, developed nations agree they need the help; developing nations want rich countries to pay up for historical damage, but developed nations don’t really want to and argue that many developing nations are rich enough to pony up some dough too. Of course, the richer developing nations, including India, shoot back, “You hit me first”.
While it was hoped that the ongoing Paris negotiation would result in a consensus on ways to keep global warming under the 2 degrees Celsius limit, with developed countries apparently reneging on the principles of common but differentiated responsibility, the hopes of reaching common ground appear farther than ever.
Even as world leaders, including the Prime Minister, have espoused the climate rhetoric in Paris, closer home, a city has been drowning under the effects of extreme weather with losses running to thousands of crores.
In the past few months India has seen floods, droughts and unseasonal rain. Nepal and Afghanistan have suffered devastating earthquakes, Indonesia has seen one of the worst wildfires in history, Australia too has suffered massive damages from bushfire, besides many, many more. Whether or not COP 21 yields climate utopia, India, which has repeatedly said it will not be bullied by developed nations, probably needs to redefine its development agenda before the damages mount.
Even as the call to developed nations to pay their dues is fair, our government’s take on matters such as dilution of environmental safeguards in favour of mines, use of coal, allowing dams in ecologically sensitive areas, and others may be the difference between how India develops, or even if it develops at all. Else we’ll keep moving one step forward, two steps back.
Senior Reporter
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