How to stay cool this summer

In recent years the primary excuse used by countries such as the US and Australia to avoid real action has been that developing nations such as India and China are currently not required to make mandatory emission reductions. As an argument against taking concrete steps this is remarkably unconvincing, even to most other developed nations. While US emissions per head of the population remain about 20 times as high as those in India, it is quite clear where reductions need to be made most urgently. This has been the basis of a consistent Indian stand arguing that measures to fix the problem must come first and foremost from the developed West.

It is arguable, however, that post Bali some things have changed. The position of developing countries is increasingly accepted globally, something evident from the discussion at DSDS 2008 as well. At the same time, for us to take a leadership role in the process of developing a post-Kyoto framework, we must be seen as doing the very best we can.

This is very much in India’s interest because, like it or not, we are one of the countries that will be the worst affected by changes in global weather patterns: reductions in crop yields, increased flooding, Himalayan glacial melting, the spread of tropical diseases such as malaria and diarrhoea.

It is in this context that the next few months become particularly important. The Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change is due to unveil in June a national plan detailing India’s response to the threat of climate change. It is crucial that this document is treated as a political and economic opportunity. It is true that making large reductions in energy use or dramatic increases in clean energy technologies require money that is hard to find. Yet there is evidence from across the world that a significant chunk of reductions in energy use, particularly in the residential, commercial and transport sectors, can come from improvements in energy efficiency that once implemented will save, not cost money. Some such measures include the adoption of efficiency standards for appliances, lighting and buildings, enhancing public transport systems and the railways and providing information clearinghouses so that the best practices in industry can disseminate quickly. There is an equally pressing need to push for less wastefulness amongst the growing upper class in urban India.

Finally, climate change provides another reason to take a long, hard look at the distortionary energy pricing policies in India, which have arguably hurt the cause of clean energy and that of economic growth at the same time.

At the DSDS 2008 conference, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh talked about the need for many of these changes. That might make for a good summit speech but the opportunities here are real and the costs of ignoring them tangible. To make all of this happen will require cross-cutting research, a full economic analysis of the costs of different measures, political will, concrete targets and timeliness and supporting legislation and policy. If we achieve even some of these, the benefits in geopolitical, economic and environmental terms will be huge. Put simply, a national document from India outlining a firm commitment to zero or low cost initiatives would give us immense moral authority in the international community and be a substantive step towards contributing our fair share to the solution.

The writer is working on a PhD in energy and environment policy at Stanford University

anant.sudarshan@gmail.com