The battle against climate change
Last week was a big one for climate change. The new Biden administration has committed to halving emissions of the United States—the world’s second-largest producer of greenhouse gases (GHG)—by the end of this decade. The drastic announcement, coming after four whole years of climate denial under former president Donald Trump, has given the world fresh hope. More importantly, it has now put the onus on China and India to respond in kind.
China consumed half of the world’s coal in 2019, says the International Energy Agency (IEA). It is responsible for a quarter of the world’s GHG emissions. Naturally, it’s important for China to be on board for any climate treaty to yield results. Though the Asian power’s president made tall claims at the White House climate summit last week about what his country intends to do, the fact remains that Beijing is yet to produce a national plan to cap its emissions within prescribed limits for this decade, a requirement under the Paris climate treaty.
With a 11% in global share, India comes a distant second in coal consumption. But in sheer numbers, it’s enough to make or break the Paris accord. The US has been appreciative of initiatives taken by India to transition to greener forms of energy. The IEA, however, differs in its opinion. The agency estimates that India’s emissions will rise by a massive 50% by 2040, which is enough to cancel out the predicted fall in emissions across all of Europe. India’s environment ministry has also given its approval for coal-fired power plants that together will produce a massive 100 GW. This is because coal continues to be far cheaper than green energy.
While the US has brought the attention back on achieving Paris targets, it’s imperative that focus remains on climate finances. It is important for historical emitters to cut down their emissions as well as help developing nations achieve the same. The US promise to double the climate finances to compensate for the sharp drop during the Trump era is a good start. Developing nations should also be prepared with a roadmap to put these finances to good use.