New form of Climate Justice in India
Context:
- The voluntary double of the rate of energy efficiency improvement by 2030 and the tripling of renewable energy capacity were agreed upon at the 2023 G20 meeting in Delhi. The most divisive topic, the phase-out of fossil fuels, which is the primary cause of the global catastrophe, was not resolved by consensus in the Delhi Declaration on the climate issue.
Change in energy:
- It frequently happens that those who contribute to climate change do not experience its effects. Consequently, any attempt at mitigation must reverse this carbon unfairness by placing the financial burden of the energy transition on the wealthier nations or regions within a nation. Although these two concepts are stated on a global scale, there is no discussion of how such politics and policies impact the home front.
Indian place:
- India’s foreign policy approach to common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) in international negotiations, which permits developing nations in the global south to prioritise economic growth and development over climate mitigation, has largely shaped the country’s position on the issue.
- The nation’s traditionally lower emissions have meant that prioritising economic expansion above climate concerns has made sense. This strategy avoids talking about climate justice in India, especially when it comes to how it affects inequality by caste, class, and geography.
Unfairness matrix:
- The impoverished are disproportionately impacted by climate change and the energy transition, as is now widely documented worldwide. Droughts and other climate-related issues have made the agrarian crisis and related economic activity worse.
- Rainfall, temperature, and significant weather variations all have a direct impact on agricultural productivity, which exacerbates farmers’ income losses. Fishing villages are suffering as a result of the nation’s fish stocks being squeezed by rising ocean temperatures.
- Even if there is a complicated relationship between inequality and carbon emissions, it is obvious that equitable and sustainable development requires tackling socioeconomic and environmental imbalances at the same time.
- It is now clear that societies with lower levels of equity typically produce more emissions per unit of economic activity. India is slipping into that trap because of its incredibly unequal economic structure.
- Experience from around the world indicates that more uneven environments hinder the kinds of societal responses required to address climate change, like public action and state capacity. In these kinds of situations, the social cost of carbon emissions increases dramatically.
- Acknowledging and reducing the obstacles these inequality matrices provide to efficient climate action is essential to building a more equitable and sustainable future.
Developing sustainably:
- India’s energy transition initiatives, while important, will impact the poor and deepen class, caste, and regional divides if climate change exacerbates already existing imbalances.
- India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) seek to guarantee that clean energy accounts for 40% of installed power production capacity. By 2070, the nation aims to attain net-zero emissions. An ambitious goal like this requires careful consideration of its consequences.
Making the switch to renewables:
- Adoption of renewable energy is important, but it shouldn’t make inequality worse already. For example, areas with a high reliance on coal production encounter particular difficulties. These areas frequently experience poverty, poor employment quality, and pollution.
- The employment creation and skill sets needed in the renewable energy sector vary greatly from those of the fossil fuel industry per unit of output. Many fossil fuel companies operate in the public sector and play a vital role in providing Dalits and other members of India’s lower castes with employment possibilities.
- The transition to renewable energy may put an end to the generational mobility that these marginalised populations have managed to achieve. Strategies aimed at reducing inequality and investing in green projects must be implemented concurrently to guarantee a fair and sustainable transition.
Encouraging federalism:
- Similar to this, areas that depend significantly on coal production can lose their means of subsistence. There is a correlation between the energy source split in India and the geographical differences in economic inequality.
- The most affordable energy source, coal, is found in the less developed parts of eastern and central India, but the more wealthy parts of southern and western India are home to renewable energy hubs powered by solar and wind photovoltaics (PV) technologies.
- The coal industry, which is 85% held by public sector miners, generates the majority of the state governments’ income from taxes, royalties, mining fees, and jobs in Odisha, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh, despite the pollution it creates.
- India’s energy transition plan needs to take these regional disparities into account, provide funding to coal-dependent States, and allocate cash for state-specific programmes that address local rehabilitation requirements and reskilling development.
Federal agreement:
- The federal governance structure of India suggests that subnational administrations are heavily involved in tackling climate-related issues. Their priorities, nevertheless, can diverge greatly from those of the Union administration. Analysing subnational reactions shows how important State entities are to addressing the problem of mitigating climate disparity.
- It has been observed that state governments carry out policies that frequently conflict with the states’ goals for development, including those outlined by the federal government regarding climate justice, climate adaptation, and disaster management.
Summary:
- To understand how policy alignment and collaboration may be achieved across the levels of government, we need to explore the complex relationships between fiscal federalism and climate mitigation.
