Rewind. Don’t CoP out of good governance

The biggest achievement of the Conference of Parties 21 (CoP21) was in getting 190 countries to sign it. They have collectively accepted the need to control carbon emissions and have imposed limits on themselves for it, called Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC).

There are, as will be, doubts about the accord. Developed countries, which have contributed most to the current situation, have evaded responsibility for their past sins under this agreement, though it was there in the previous one. They have made a pledge ($100 billion a year) to finance the effort of countries towards cleaner technology but there is no specific liability to each country and no means of enforcing it.

So, what does it mean for a developing country like India? In our quest to improve living standards, we would need more energy. India has also signed a pledge towards its INDC and has to plan to meet it. Plans include a greater dependence on cleaner solar energy than on dirtier coal.

Planning for the future implies good governance, and the right mix of policies. There are many ideas and new technologies that can make the future exciting, provided the ideas and technologies are adopted through good governance.

Sadly, our governance is pathetic; witness the continuous stalling of parliamentary proceedings as a form of political protest. So long as governance is guided by personal profit, India will continue to fall short of its potential. Once it is guided by public welfare, India will soar.

What can India do to meet its obligations under CoP21? The country can plan the smart cities by adopting good ideas and technologies, thereby not only meeting commitments made in CoP21 but also improving living standards. To be able to meet our commitments, we must, as a nation, discourage private transport, and build efficient and cost-effective public transport.

Also, in the new smart cities, we could use the money generated from the permit and the entry tax of 100 per cent for car purchasers to part-finance public infrastructure. All cars should be electronically tagged to charge toll for use of busy roads and to monitor traffic violations.

Homes and work places must be within five minutes reach of a public transport. The government must also get tough on auto manufacturers, imposing strict norms for both fuel efficiency and emissions. ?

India must also improve its roads. We keep sticking to old tar roads, instead of new ones, such as asphalt. The reason is simple. Tar roads need to be frequently resurfaced, thus providing officials of civic bodies with an undeserved annuity income, aka bribe. That is why some politicians are complaining that the new, smart, cities, being managed by a CEO, would curtail the ability of civic bodies to manage the city (read ‘would reduce our annuity income’). If the government is concerned more about the welfare of its citizens than of its own officials, it should look at the Netherlands which has roads that absorb water. Had such roads been laid in Chennai, a lot of lives would have been saved; the city would have continued functioning normally and there would not have been such an economic loss.

Another alternative, brought by a company called VolkerWessels, is a road made from discarded plastic, being set up in Rotterdam as an experiment We need to first decide to use all available technologies and ideas to tap the full potential of India. Will the polity change its ways?

Last week the Sensex rose 475 points to end at 25,519.

The Fed did not perturb the market. The coming week will be dominated by the court case in the National Herald case and the inevitable fallout of cessation of parliamentary work.

One prays for a polity that can govern well, and strongly, and help India meet its international commitments, and more importantly, the commitment of providing a better life for its people.

The writer is India head, EuroMoney Conferences

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