Explore, Innovate & Communicate: From Rio to Durban- From Uncertainty to Certainty towards Skepticism !

Excerpts from Book Launch: New Delhi, 19th Dec. 2011
[ Samjay Baru, Nitin Desai, Amita Baviskar, Navroj Dubhash ]

From Rio to Durban much water has flown under the bridge of climate change and in the river of geopolitics. Now comes the Handbook of Climate Change and India: Development, Politics and Governance edited by Navroz Dubhash of Centre for Policy Research. In the view of less informed foreign policy debate surrounding climate change and absent domestic nuances in the political discourse, this book is a hope for adding the diverse colours from the scientific end to the development aspects with clear focus on issues which otherwise we brush under the carpet as isolated vested interest issues present on the corporate coffee tables and gravitating in the dynamics of movements.

One thing is clear. Despite the East Angila University inspired Climategate fiasco, which largely heightened the suspicions and attacks because of exaggerated claims and data pushing the hysteria of climate change, the consensus of its existence remains and continues to be proved by new evidences being given by IPCC and its Assessment Reports. Still, there are lots of question marks on climate change and scientists are working hard (?) to answer that. Thus uptill now, having science of climate change largely established (except report Climate Change Reconsidered), today it can be said that economics and sociology have taken over as far as latest discourses about impacts of climate change are concerned. These discourses are largely concerned about development implications of the climate change along with equally significant aspect of geopolitics of negotiations in these issues.

Science of climate change is very well enmeshed with the non-scientific dimensions of the debate. Increasingly the summits, negotiations, vocabulary of the debate is shifting towards or being oriented towards development priorities. We have to remember with cautionary hindsight and skeptical foresight that climate change is still an evolving issue. Scholars have to admit that we should not jump in the well and start beating drum for it twenty-four-seven. Lot of experts in this field are relying on definitive solutions. Climate change is just not a matter of negotiation; rather it is a matter of perseverance as far as realizing its huge network of factors causing it. Thus distinction between scientific answers and other enquiries is very essential.

The contents of the books (available below) does not hint at Indian intervention in the climate change scientific research. There is urgent need to develop an Indian perspective in all the aspects of climate change debate. Informed debate among scholars will certainly create a healthy environment for where policymakers, political leadership and bureaucracy will then be driven by evidences, data and authentic perspectives. Also, there is a need of an independent view to respond to the geopolitics of climate change. Cumulatively, this debate is being enmeshed in the contexts of structured changes observed in the economy in last few years, especially financial, debt crisis in developed world, food, and natural resources crisis in developing & least developed countries. In a way it has become a function of dynamics in global private assets vs. global commons.

Causes of climate change are surely embedded in industrial growth. Rise of the rest and the decline of the west is becoming sure possibility. From Bali action plan to Durban summit, the economic policy is clearly seen to drive the debate and instincts about the negotiations. Especially Copenhagen accord which proved to be disaster was a strong indicator of that. We should emerge to evolve the strategies to manage these changes. Therefore more awareness in all quarters of society is needed to establish control over changing relationships. Equations about recently formed BASIC group formulation may change, as we do not know what will be scenario in two three decades from now. India should take care to see that it should not lock itself in any kind of impossible commitment or promised prison due to which it forever compromises its position on equitable sustainable development with uncompromised vision for global compliance of the “just” principles of climate change negotiations.

Experts talked about three missing elements out of this handbook. Firstly, it is missing comprehensive agenda for south Asia. SAARC countries should have calibrated strategy for all the possible issues of negotiations and thus strategy formulation in coming times. South Asia being one of the largest geoeconomically homogeneous entity sharing common natural resources of rivers, glaciers, mountains, geography. This book also needs another Indian point of view vis-à-vis SAARC view. Secondly, this book does not address migration issue in depth. As human being, migration has been unstoppable event in all evolutionary history uptill now. Regimes of VISA are primarily established post world war II. In the times when the political entities have frozen the geoeconomically dynamic migration which is done by survival instincts will definitely shape the climate change debate in different direction once these political borders are subjected to change in next few decades. Thirdly, the issue of energy security has been inadequately dealt here. Search for new energy sources, investment in different energy technologies, access-pricing-marketing aspects of new technology is very crucial issues needing immediate attention. In the context of all these issues concerned, how concepts of adaptation and mitigation are going to change in the Indian contexts remains to be seen and to be studied. Thus energy solutions equally for economic growth and sustainable development will be the main challenge ahead of these studies, research and development.

Debate about climate change is shaped by normative criteria in recent times coming up more with policy prescriptions rather than policy prescriptions. While doing these intelligent, innovative suggestions need to be pursued. The kind of suggestions/prescriptions are being made to the agencies/institutions cannot be realized because there track record in appreciating the concerns of development is not upto satisfactory level. In contemporary times, when economic growth is top most priority of the government how it can be expected that it will deliver on the promises of inclusion, conservation and preservation. Problems, prospects and possibilities of distorted climate change debate remain on the cards. All the debate about seems to be driven by ambitious nationalism. There has been no indication or hint towards domestic economic processes. There are huge disparities in every sector of economy and in every walk of life. But there has been studied silence on all of these issues during major climate change related debates or coverage in the media.

Issues of equity seem to have been sidelined under the guise of low emission per capita in India. Insecurity and uncertainty of the poor have been neglected systematically. Environmental fluctuation and its impact have not been addressed in sound manner. Hard life, struggle and crisis in social ambience of the country seem to have disappeared from the radar of research in climate change. Thus safeguarding future is less a priority as against planning of strategies for negotiations. The issues of environmental conflicts and sacred landscapes have been completely forgotten. The crucial aspects of safety, shelter, sanitation, and livelihood have been sidelined. Vulnerabilities to glaciers, coastlines, marine geology and other natural commons have gone deliberately unnoticed. In the view of large models, much of the attention is directed at state; seeking its intervention or welfare wisdom to guide the community of scholars, professionals and practitioners.

But why this should be the only way to look at this process of fighting climate change, if it is happening any way? Where is the discussion about the pollution out of loot of mines and likewise locations. What politics will be mobilized to create awareness about this? How experience gained by social movements can contribute to understanding the complexity of the relation between climate change and development processes? How political ecology can address social justice issue. In the context of accelerated exploitation of the natural resources and labor forces how modes of production are changing or being utilized for narrow goals? How we can question, challenge commoditization and consumerist culture in today’s times? How major alternative streams of politics view these debates about climate change and are we going to recognize those voices? These all questions need to be asked again and again when we realize that climate change discourse is hell bent to discuss only pattern/model of growth. This is significant when we recall Mahatma Gandhi`s need vs. greed argument.

The government mechanisms and institutions which are dealing with the climate change policy need massive reform as they have hegemonised and dominated by same stagnated perspectives since long time. The understanding about power equations, how it drives development agenda and what decides power dynamics is utmost important to understand while throwing any political argument about climate change. Ultimately, this is turning out to be fight between global vs local commons, let alone between treaty, negotiations or bargaining trade-off between institutions, economies and countries.

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Handbook of Climate Change and India: Development, Politics and Governance

Edited by Navroz K. Dubash

Contents

Foreword by Jairam Ramesh

Acknowledgements

Introduction Navroz K. Dubash

Section I. Climate Science and Potential Impacts

1. Impacts of Climate Change on India J. Srinivasan

2. Sea Level Rise: Impact on Major Infrastructure, Ecosystems and Land Along the Tamil Nadu Coast Sujatha Byravan, Sudhir Chella Rajan and Rajesh Rangarajan

3. Impact of Climate Change on a Shift of the Apple Belt in Himachal Pradesh, India Ranbir Singh Rana, R.M. Bhagat, Vaibhav Kalia and Harbans Lal

4. India in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change R. Ramachandran

Section II. Past as Prologue: Early Indian Perspectives on Climate Change

5. Global Warming in an Unequal World: A Case of Environmental Colonialism

Select Excerpts Anil Agarwal and Sunita Narain

6. Present at the Creation: The Making of the Framework Convention on Climate Change Chandrashekhar Dasgupta

Section III. The International Climate Negotiations: Stakes, Debates and Dilemmas

7. International Climate Negotiations and India’s Role

Sandeep Sengupta

8. The Reach and Limits of the Principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities in the Climate Change Regime Lavanya Rajamani

9. Equity and Burden Sharing in Emission Scenarios: A Carbon Budget Approach

T. Jayaraman, Tejal Kanitkar and Mario D’Souza

10. Equity in Climate Change: the Range of Metrics and Views

Narasimha Rao

11. Climate Change Debate: The Rationale of India’s Position

Prodipto Ghosh

12. India’s Official Position: A Critical View based on Science

D. Raghunandan

13. A View from the Outside: International Perspectives on India’s Climate Positions European Union - Bert Metz Bangladesh - Saleemul Huq

Philippines – Vicente Paolo Yu III China - Ying Chen USA - Michael Levi

Section IV. Domestic Politics of Climate Change

14. Climate Politics in India: Three Narratives Navroz K. Dubash