India’s position on Climate Change: Statement submitted to PM

The campaign statement was submitted to the Prime Minister of India on 19 November 2009 with the list of signatories as on this date.

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To
Dr.Manmohan Singh
Hon’ble Prime Minister of India
South Block, Secretariat
New Delhi – 110001 November 18, 2009

Subject: India’s position on Climate Change


Respected Dr.Singh,

Even as the Copenhagen Conference draws near, nations and peoples of the world appear no closer to the international agreement so essential to stave off possible irreversible climate change and potentially disastrous impacts especially in India, South Asia and developing countries as a whole.

It is universally acknowledged that industrially developed countries are primarily responsible for the crisis and therefore must shoulder the maximum burden of tackling it as per the principles delineated in the UNFCCC and along the lines called for by the the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report and the Bali Action Plan. At the same time, it is also widely perceived that India as a leading voice among developing countries has not done enough on the international stage to push for a global Treaty that addresses the science of climate change as well as concerns about equity both between and within countries.

A group of dedicated and experienced academics, civil society organizations, policy experts and others with expertise on climate change have been intensively working together for the past two years on the various issues involved. A Statement outlining a policy stance for India both internationally and for domestic action has now been endorsed by leading organizations and individuals under the banner of a “Campaign for Progressive Climate Policy in India”, and is enclosed herewith. The signatories believe that this Statement embodies a perspective and plan of action that answers many of the questions that have so far bedeviled both the global negotiations as well as the Indian position therein.

The Statement is commended for your personal perusal and that of your policy advisors. We would welcome the opportunity for a small delegation to discuss the same with you at your convenience.

Brief Account

Coming....

Signatories

The following have endorsed ....

Individuals
(Institutional affiliation shown for information only)

• Sharachchandra Lele (ATREE, Bangaluru)
• Navroz Dubash (Centre for Policy Research )
• T. Jayaraman (Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai)
• Suman Sahai (Gene Campaign)
• Anand B. Rao (CTARA, IIT-Bombay)
• Snigdha Kar (Indian Youth Climate Network)
• C.E.Karunakaran, Chennai
• Parthib Basu (Dept of Zoology, Univ. of Kolkata)
• Benny Kuruvilla (FOCUS on the Global South)
• Rajeswari Sarala Raina (Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi)
• Jangal Jayaram (PRAWARDA)
• S. Rajagopalan (TIDE, Bangalore)
• A.Vaidyanathan
• Sirisha Naidu (Wright State University, USA)
• Kanchan Chopra (Former Director and Professor, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi)
• Prakash Kashwan (School of Public & Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, USA)
• Prajval Shastri, Bangaluru
• N. Balakrishnaraj, Bangaluru
• Raman Mehta
• P.S.Narayan (Wipro)
• Sumi Krishna, Bangaluru
• Ajit Menon (Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai)
• Mehala Kumar (Wipro)
• P.S.Ramakrishnan (Jawahar Lal Nehru University, New Delhi)
• Manjulika Vaz (Bangaluru)
• Rohan D'Souza (Bangaluru)
• Arundhati Das (ATREE, Bangaluru)
• M.K.Ramesh (National Law School of India University, Bangaluru)
• Jagadish S. (Wipro)
• M. V. Ramana (Princeton University, USA)
• N.Venu (Centre for Learning, Bangaluru)
• Indraneel Murkumbi (Bangaluru)
• Cavery Bopaiah
• N.Venu (Centre for Learning, Bangaluru)
• Shobha Raghuram
• M.G. Chandrakanth (University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangaluru)
• Ashwin Kumar (Carnegie Mellon University, USA)
• Vinay Sreenivasa, Hasiru Usiru (Bangaluru)
• Armin Rosencranz (ATREE, Bangaluru)
• Kathyayini Chamaraj
• Raghavan (Cupertino, USA)
• Michael M (Gujarat)
• Sreekanth Sreedharan
• Madhu Sarin (Chandigarh)

Organizations

• All India Peoples Science Network
• Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti, New Delhi
• Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (Karnataka)
• Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (Punjab & Chandigarh)
• Centre for Ecology & Rural Development, Puducherry
• Delhi Science Forum
• Development Research Communication & Services Centre, Kolkata
• Federation of Medical & Sales Representatives Associations of India (FMSRAI)
• Gyan Vigyan Samiti, Uttar Pradesh
• Himachal Gyan Vigyan Samiti, Shimla, HP
• Madhya Pradesh Vigyan Sabha
• Prayas Energy Group, Pune
• Pondicherry Science Forum
• Society for Technology & Development, Mandi, HP
• Tamil Nadu Science Forum
• PRAWARDA
• JANANEETHI, Thrissur, Kerala
• JANANEETHI INSTITUTE, Thrissur, Kerala
• INSA India, Bangalore, Karnataka
• Centre For Social Markets, Bangalore, Karnataka
• Greenpeace India
• River Basin Friends Silapathar, Dt.Dhemaji, Assam

Campaign for Progressive Climate Action & Policy

The Campaign for Progressive Climate Action and Policy in India has been launched by a coalition of academics, non-profit professional organizations, NGOs, activists and informed individuals to advocate a progressive Indian climate policy, both internationally and domestically.

(for brief history and related documents see http://progressiveclimatepolicycampaign-ind.blogspot.com/2009/10/brief-account.html)

We call upon all like-minded individuals to read and endorse the following statement.

Please send your endorsements via email ProgressiveClimateCampaign@gmail.com
(indicating whether endorsing in individual or organizational capacity)

Statement
October 2009

Climate Change is a major threat to humanity, especially to the lives of the poor in the developing countries. Urgent and concerted mitigation actions are required for preventing runaway climate change. The Indian Government has consistently championed the rights of developing countries by affirming the principle of “Common but Differentiated Responsibility” and the need for financial support for mitigation and adaptation. While the developed nations, particularly the United States, have repeatedly stalled any meaningful progress towards mitigating global warming, India’s approach historically treated climate change more as a foreign policy and diplomatic issue rather than a core developmental concern. Recently, however, the Indian government has shown a welcome shift towards a more pro-active perspective, recognising its responsibility in long-term climate change mitigation and leadership role among developing countries. This statement is a call for a progressive, consistent, integrated and long-term approach to climate policy and action by India. We seek to lay down broad principles for the long-term and implications for the ongoing international negotiations. and also towards the immediate international negotiations.

The following broad principles must underpin an enhanced climate change policy:

• Substantial, targeted and binding commitments leading to meaningful reductions in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are vital for averting irreversible climate change. The failure to implement such reductions would have grave consequences for humanity in the long term apart from leading to serious negative impacts in the short to medium term. Since emissions stay in the atmosphere for decades, it is essential that these reductions begin immediately and are undertaken as fast as possible, making mid-term targets essential.
• The major burden of the impact of climate change will be borne by the poor and other vulnerable groups, especially in developing countries. Responsibility to climate-change vulnerable groups within India and outside is therefore a central concern.
• Equity both between nations and within nations lies at the heart of the climate debate. Climate change mitigation efforts must be directed towards actualizing equitable entitlements to the global atmospheric commons, overcoming the prior historical occupation of these commons by a few developed nations that has seriously restricted the “carbon space” for other developing nations.
• Developed nations of the global North bear the maximum responsibility for historical GHG emissions, amounting currently to over 77% of the GHG stock in the atmosphere. In most scenarios, emissions from developed nations will continue to constitute a majority of the atmospheric GHG stock even after desired mitigation actions are taken by all nations. Developed nations must therefore bear liability for both damage caused and for actions required for redress in terms of mitigation and adaptation.
• Even today, emissions from developed nations continue to be among the most significant sources of increasing GHG concentrations in the atmosphere. In per capita terms their emissions are five to ten times those of developing nations. Thus climate change action must begin with immediate and sharp emissions reductions by the developed nations.
• Developing countries have not contributed to the creation of the global warming problem. But they, particularly the larger ones including China, India, Brazil and South Africa, have to be part of the solution, keeping in mind maximum sustainable global emissions, even while respecting per capita emission equity. Calculations show that even if developed nations undertake the deep emissions cuts recommended by IPCC (reducing emissions to 95% of 1990 levels by 2050), the desired levels of global emissions and atmospheric GHG concentrations cannot be attained without large developing countries in contributing to mitigation actions in the medium and long term.
• The low-carbon pathways of development that developing countries need to evolve and pursue will need considerable effort that requires the participation of both the State and society as a whole. Environmentally sustainable and socially just development under these conditions would call for transformative societal goals, new scientific and technological inputs and new strategies for their deployment that emerge from a broad societal consensus.
• Both at the global and national levels, the requisite goals of mitigation and adaptation cannot be achieved through market mechanisms alone. In particular, carbon offsets especially between the North and the South not only effectively reduce actual emission reduction; they also shift the burden of emission reductions to lower-emission regions and dampen technological innovation necessary for mitigation.
• It is essential that developing countries, including India, integrate climate mitigation and adaptation into broader sustainable and just developmental goals. But such integration cannot be imposed by the North through conditionality on adaptation funding, or other strong conditions on international aid. Developing countries need to ensure that climate adaptation funding is an additional investment in meeting national goals and priorities.

Specifically with regard to the international negotiations towards post-2012 arrangements, we urge the following as the starting point for discussion:

• Greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere need to be contained at most at 450 ppmv, requiring global GHG emissions to stabilize and start declining by 2015 and halve by 2050, so that rise in global average temperatures could be contained to about 2 degrees Celsius by 2050. These global goals are based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and represent a lower bound to the required emission reductions in order to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference with the earth’s climate
• The long-term goal of global emissions reduction and control agreements, and the thrust of actions taken in the interim towards it, should be to bring about convergence to a sustainable range of emissions per capita for all nations and within nations and to reduce inequality of energy consumption and therefore of emissions.
• Annex-1 countries must undertake deep cuts in GHG emissions with binding reduction targets not only for 2050 (95% less than 1990 levels) but also for intermediate signpost years such as 2020 (40% less than 1990 levels) and 2030. Without such intermediate targets the longer-term goals either cannot be achieved or will come with huge cost burdens and/or short to medium term impacts
• Abiding by the principle of common but differentiated responsibility, major developing countries with large growing economies and relatively high emissions such as China, India, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa and others, need to reduce emissions growth rates so as to achieve significant reductions (of the order of 25% at least) in the projected emissions by 2030 conditional upon the Annex-1 countries agreeing to deep binding cuts as above and compensatory funding and technological assistance as outlined further below. After 2030, the developing countries need to adhere to a trajectory of convergence towards globally sustainable per capita emissions goals.
• National emissions reduction targets should not be permitted to be offset against any other kind of compensatory action elsewhere, especially in developing nations.
• Developing countries must be assisted towards adaptation and mitigation measures through substantive transfers of funds and technologies by Annex-1 countries, understood not as aid but as defraying of liability and utilizing resources acquired through historical occupation and exploitation of the global atmospheric commons. More specifically:
  

1. management and transfers of funds should be through transparent mechanisms under the direction of the COP;
2. technology transfers should be free of IPR restrictions;
3. development of new low-carbon technologies should be maximally through public funding, both within and between nations, so that such technologies are further guaranteed to be widely accessible or are in the public domain.

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LIST OF ORGINAL SIGNATORIES
(For updated lists, please see http://progressiveclimatepolicycampaign-ind.blogspot.com/2009/10/signatories.html)

Individuals

(Institutional affiliation shown for information only)

Sharachchandra Lele (ATREE, Bangalore)
Navroz Dubash (Centre for Policy Research )
T. Jayaraman (Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai)
Suman Sahai (Gene Campaign)
Anand B. Rao (CTARA, IIT-Bombay)
Snigdha Kar (Indian Youth Climate Network)
C.E.Karunakaran, Chennai
Parthib Basu (Dept of Zoology, Univ. of Kolkata)
Benny Kuruvilla (FOCUS on the Global South)

Organizations
All India Peoples Science Network
Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti, New Delhi
Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (Karnataka)
Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (Punjab & Chandigarh)
Centre for Ecology & Rural Development, Puducherry
Delhi Science Forum
Development Research Communication & Services Centre, Kolkata
Federation of Medical & Sales Representatives Associations
of India (FMSRAI)
Gyan Vigyan Samiti, Uttar Pradesh
Himachal Gyan Vigyan Samiti, Shimla, HP
Madhya Pradesh Vigyan Sabha
Prayas Energy Group, Pune
Pondicherry Science Forum
Society for Technology & Development, Mandi, HP
Tamil Nadu Science Forum