(Video) Rajya Sabha TV (RSTV) The Big Picture: Climate Change & India

Topic: Climate Change & India

Guest:

Abinash Mohanty, (Programme Lead, Council on Energy, Environment and Water)
Manjeev Singh Puri, (Former Ambassador)
R. R. Rashmi, (Former Special Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change)

Topic Description:

India is not historically responsible for climate change, but India is taking steps to reduce emission as a responsible country, environment minister Prakash Javadekar said on the eve of the fifth year of Paris Climate agreement. Paris Climate Agreement was adopted on December 12, 2015, by 196 parties. It became effective from November 4, 2016. At present, India is contributing only 6.8 per cent of global emissions and per capita emission is only 1.9 tonnes per capita. In comparison, the emission of the United States is 13.5 per cent of the global emissions and per capita is 15.52 tonnes. China contributes 30 per cent to global emissions while the European Union including the UK contributes 8.7 per cent. Meanwhile, the latest Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2021 has placed India among the top 10 countries to have adopted substantial measures to mitigate climate change. This is for the second consecutive year India has been placed in the top 10. However, there is a cause for concern for India, according to a study by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), about three in four of India’s districts are hotspots of extreme climate events such as cyclones, floods, drought, heat and cold waves. The study calls for building climate resilience.