Being penny wise and pound foolish on climate change

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: The recent political drama surrounding the nuclear deal appeared even more spectacular by the lack of discourse on an issue of far more importance. On June 30, the prime minister unveiled the country’s National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). But the nuclear fracas allowed little else for discussion and India missed an opportunity to get started on forging a domestic consensus on climate change.

The world is in a race against climate change. The current agreement under the Kyoto Protocol extends emissions reductions targets for developed countries through 2012. Last December countries met in Bali and agreed on a two-year negotiation process designed to achieve longer term reductions. Starting August 21, two key working groups have been meeting in Accra, Ghana, as part of the negotiation process. This is the third such high profile meeting this year. A period of two years is hardly enough time to secure an international agreement of the scope that is required. But the parties to the discussion have thus far demonstrated a genuine sense of urgency.

India will be central to the negotiations process. The fate of an international agreement depends closely on emissions reduction action that large developing economies, India and China in particular, can offer. India is one of the largest and fastest growing emitters of greenhouse gases in the world. At the same time, its per-capita emission is one of the lowest in the world and only a fraction of that of developed countries.

India has argued that emissions reduction cannot come at the expense of its national development. Further, India suggests that because industrialised countries have been mainly responsible for the historic growth in emissions, they should have to bear the burden of reductions. Developed countries have argued that a solution to climate change cannot be complete, or may even be meaningless unless countries such as India and China actively participate in the reduction effort. This divide will be hard to bridge but the scientific evidence on climate change overwhelmingly suggests that an international response to climate change must be found quickly.

Despite a year in the making, the NAPCC was never expected to depart from India’s traditional position. Nevertheless, the international community had eagerly awaited its arrival and was promptly disappointed when the NAPCC failed to say much. At home, nobody seemed to notice anything.