A few days into 2020, the Paris Agreement looms large over the 197 states of the world demanding urgent climate action. Unfortunately, COP25, which was meant to frame the rulebook for the Paris Agreement, raised more questions than solutions. Having come to a dissatisfactory end with no clear plans or targets, the only silver lining is probably the promise of increased action by the developed nations of the European Union. 

The EU has pledged carbon neutrality by 2050, with some member states being even more ambitious, like Finland aiming for net zero emissions by 2035; Sweden, 2040. These targets come in the wake of the revelation that global average temperatures have already reached 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels - less than 1°C away from the Paris target of 2°C. In fact, the UN IPCC recommends 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, which can be achieved only if worldwide emissions are halved by 2030. There is also increasing pressure for greater investments in renewable energy, whose production needs to more than double in 10 years. 

But what do these figures mean for different countries around the globe? In the last decade, climate change has resulted in extreme weather events — 68% of which were induced by human activities. These have affected both rich and poor nations, big and small, developed and the developing. However, disproportionality prevails both in terms of impact and climate action.

While steps to combat climate change are being discussed by developed countries, developing nations are still struggling to set targets. Impeded by a lack of awareness and expertise, inadequate data and insufficient funds, developing nations have not yet jumped on the climate action bandwagon. Another critical reason for inaction is the battle against more foundational issues, like poverty and ‘underdevelopment,’ which puts climate change on the back burner. For instance, Nigeria witnesses extreme poverty rise by six people each minute and was home to the highest number of the world’s poorest people in 2018: 87 million. India bagged second place, with 70.6 million people living in extreme poverty. In such conditions of poverty, sustainability and climate action become a double-edged sword, as they imply less fuel burning and slower development. 

Thus, in order to maintain GDP growth and employment, developing countries have not set net zero emission targets. Being huge exporters of fossil fuels, Russia, the Middle East, Africa and several parts of Asia will face severe development hits if such targets are set; hence, their plans focus on emissions reduction instead. 

India’s case is especially interesting because it is one of the four largest countries that can make or break the efforts taken by all other nations; China, India, the EU and the US alone accounted for about 60 per cent of emissions from fossil fuel combustion in 2017. Also, India is facing some of the worst consequences of climate change. India had the highest number of casualties caused by climate change in 2018, with 2,081 deaths. Furthermore, according to the UN World Migration Report 2020, at 2.678 million people, India had the highest number of people displaced by disasters and extreme weather events in 2018. 

Despite these staggering numbers, India’s climate action is mostly on paper and its measures for economic development are almost counterproductive. For instance, India has committed to generate 40 per cent of its power from non-fossil sources by 2030. However, there is a continued dependency on fossil fuel: coal production has increased over 8% in just one year, and in the next five years, 55 new coal mines and the expansion of 193 existing mines have been planned to boost coal production.

India’s goal of reaching 30% e-vehicle penetration by 2030 is also questionable since EVs presently account for only 1% of total vehicle sales in India. Powerful car lobbyists and lax regulations against vehicles running on fossil fuels hinder progress in this field. Another climate change goal is increasing tree cover to serve as a carbon sink for 2.5-3 billion tonnes of CO2 by 2030. Despite this aim, deforestation is still widely prevalent in India — one-fifth of the country’s tree cover has been lost in the past two decades, with over 19000 hectares of forests lost just in 2017-18. 

One of the most yawning gaps, however, in India’s climate action plan, which can be observed across the world as well, is the lack of a local climate action framework; the grand plans at the national level rarely trickle down to concrete steps at the regional level, where there can be real tangible change. Nonetheless, this absence of a ‘rule book’ at the smaller scale has led to an interesting turn of events in India: increasing local action as a result of the city’s interests and the rise of eco-citizens. 

Delhi, for example, which is one of the most polluted cities in the world, is procuring 1000 new e-buses to abate the worsening air quality. Earlier this year, Chennai passed a radical law banning single-use plastic. The city has also been collaborating with local NGOs to improve waste management — waste that goes to infills has been reduced by 11% in just 3 months. Another inspiring scenario is the collective community action including enforcement of water conservation and maintenance of compost pits for waste management, by Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and other groups in different parts of the country.

While tiny drops such as these make a mighty ocean indeed, more concerted efforts are required. Along with targets for climate action by 2030 and 2050, countries should be setting annual plans to help achieve long-term goals. These in turn should be converted into strategies for federal states, cities and other regional levels to implement on the ground. At the international level, it is pivotal for knowledge exchange and capacity building to take place. For instance, India could learn a lot from the UK about renewable energy production, and circulation. Another global intervention could be greater climate finance flows from developed to developing countries, which could result in more innovative measures for climate action, while also helping reduce the disproportionate action. Most important of all, there is an urgent need for greater political will with young leaders at the helm, for successful climate action.

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With an undergraduate degree in architecture, Nashwa Naushad worked at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) in India for 3 years, focused on battling car-oriented growth and creating infrastructure for non-motorised and public transport. She is especially known for her expertise in sustainable street design, having supervised the creation of over 50 kilometers of such streets and co-authored numerous publications for ITDP including a National Framework for ‘Complete Streets’ adopted by the Indian Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. Nashwa is now exploring other urban issues and solutions on her Masters program at the University College London through the Chevening Scholarship.