One can see a refreshing change of course from the days of science-denying Donald Trump. US President Joe Biden, speaking at the Global Climate Summit a few days ago, pledged to cut carbon emissions by 50-52 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, effectively doubling previous commitments.
“Scientists tell us that this is the decisive decade — this is the decade we must make decisions that will avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis,” Biden said.
The pledge was for keeping the Earth’s temperature from rising more than 1.5C. “The world beyond 1.5 degrees means more frequent and intense fires, floods, droughts, heatwaves and hurricanes tearing through communities, ripping away lives and livelihoods,” said a passionate Biden.
Avril Haines, President
Biden’s director of national intelligence, echoed Biden. She told the Climate Summit that climate change was no longer a peripheral issue, but at the “center of a country’s national security and foreign policy.” To stress that the US’ money was where its mouth is, Biden announced the US would double aid for developing countries fighting environmental degradation.
While Europe applauded, two of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases, China and India, made no new commitments. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made general comments on how India was on the path of achieving its renewable energy target of 450 gigawatts by 2030.
China’s President Xi Jinping hit back at the West by pointing out that historically the US accounts for the largest share of emissions and the US and exhorted the other Western industrialized nations to do more to slow down global warming. “The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities must be upheld,” Xi said.
The dirtiest of polluters
At the center of the strategy to prevent Climate Change is the ground reality of coal. The international advocacy group Endcoal, points out coal is the single biggest contributor to anthropogenic climate change. The burning of coal is responsible for 46% of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide and accounts for 72 per cent of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the electricity sector. There are 1,200 new coal-fired power stations at various stages of implementation. If these are commissioned, the emissions from these plants would cause global temperatures to rise by over 5 degrees Celsius by 2100, pushing the Earth’s ecosystem towards catastrophe.
Despite all the commitments of political leaders over the last few decades, between 2001 and 2010, world consumption of coal increased 45 per cent. During the same time period, total greenhouse gas emissions were the highest in human history.
On paper, everyone agrees the age of coal must soon come to an end. But the ground reality is different. Though reduced demand triggered a fall in coal production during last year’s pandemic, the recovery has now triggered a 4.5 per cent rise in demand for coal as the world’s three biggest consumers of the dirtiest of fossil fuels begin hiking their coal usage. US power plants are set to consume 16 per cent more coal this year compared to 2020, and then another 3 per cent in 2022, the Energy Information
Administration said recently.
China and India, which together account for two-thirds of coal consumption, have no plans to cut back in the near term. India, despite all its solar, wind and other renewable energy projects, still generates 70 per cent of its power production from coal-fired plants.
China, India stumble
It’s not that the climate change campaign hasn’t worked. Many developing countries have
bitten the bullet and rolled back coal power stations. In South Africa, after years of lawsuits, plans to build a coal-fired power station in Limpopo Province were cancelled last November. Chinese-funded projects are stalled in Kenya, Egypt and Bangladesh.
The problem is China and India. China has been on a rebound since about mid-2020, with production of cement, steel and other industries being fired by the cheap energy generator, coal. New coal-based power plants in China have added 38 gigawatts of capacity in 2020.
India is on the roll too with 60 gigawatts of coal-fired plants in the pipeline till 2026. Unfortunately, the Indian and Chinese leadership justify their continued reliance on fossil fuels using the high moral ground of being nations that have been exploited for decades by colonialism. “And now it is our turn to go berserk,” they seem to be saying.
In a recent interaction with French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, India’s environment minister Prakash Javadekar, said: “The poor of this world have the right to grow, and we will do so sustainably.” But, he added, environmental damage is a result of 150 years of heavy industrialization and emissions of the western nations. And hence, “all of us need to act, but those who have polluted more must also act more,” he argued.
Javadekar is right. The biggest polluters must pay. Fortunately, Joe Biden has redrawn the rules of engagement, and have agreed to foot the bill for a cleaner and safer energy route. India and China should not lose this opportunity.