COP28: Does India have any different philosophy for saving planet?

The issue countries like India are raising gives a clue to what is going on. The Ministry of External Affairs says that coal is and will remain an important part of India’s energy mix, as it has always been, as we move forward to meet our developmental priorities in our country

On the occasion of the Conference of Parties (COP28) in Dubai, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ statement warned of impending danger to the planet.

“We are living through climate collapse in real-time, and the impact is devastating,” he said. The UN says, “While 2023 is not yet over, a provisional report from the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed that it is set to be the warmest on record, with global temperatures rising 1.4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.”

Guterres said that the race is on to keep alive the 1.5-degree limit agreed by world leaders in Paris in 2015.

The United Nations says that while the Paris Agreement has spurred global action on climate change and reduced future warming forecasts, there is a glaring gap in emissions reductions, with current national commitments falling short by 20.3 to 23.9 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent compared to the levels required to limit warming to 1.5 °C by 2030.

“To achieve the Paris Agreement's targets, global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions need to be cut by around 43 percent by 2030 and 60 percent by 2035 from 2019 levels, aiming for net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050,” the UN adds.

Can we believe in the optimism of the United Nations? Will the countries gathered in Dubai agree to anything drastic? Can we think of rationality in an age of post-truth?

It may not go well with many because the world is hardly ready to act unitedly. The analogy may not be convincing, but it has logic. What is happening in Gaza displays the hollowness of the claim of world unity. We have earlier seen what Russia has done to Ukraine and how the USA destroyed Iraq on a false pretext. These happenings only show that civilization is being run on the logic of medievalism. This logic does not rely on wisdom. This is only incidental to the current civilizational order, which has information on everything on earth. However, it does not know how to save crumbling mountains, receding glaciers, and expanding deserts. They are not fairytales. They are happening in real time. Can the exclamation of wise elders make any impact?

Recent research has shown how bats are in danger owing to changes in the rain pattern. The increase in rainfall has made their lives miserable. Maybe some groups will come to initiate a campaign to save them from extinction. These groups passionately choose their subjects. However, these individual efforts for select species make them

“Over the last 200 years, human activities have tipped the scales against the survival of these ancient mariners. Slaughtered for their eggs, meat, skin, and shells, sea turtles suffer from poaching and overexploitation. They also face habitat destruction and accidental capture—known as bycatch—in fishing gear. Climate change has an impact on turtle nesting sites; it alters sand temperatures, which then affects the sex of hatchlings. Nearly all species of sea turtles are now classified as endangered, with three of the seven existing species being critically endangered,” says the World Wildlife Fund.

We can also mention here the story of whales. Both bats and whales are mammals. They started their fascinating journey millions of years ago. Turtles and dinosaurs had common ancestors. Bats took to flying from being terrestrial animals, and whales became mariners from terrestrial life. We can see how far they have travelled in their evolutionary history. But humans have failed them. Earlier, habitat destruction was the most important cause of their destruction. Now, human civilization has put up an unprecedented challenge they can hardly fight out—the challenge of climate change.

Is climate change only an environmental challenge? This is hardly so. This is also not a matter of politics or economy. This is a civilizational problem. This is a problem with the philosophy that civilization subscribes to.

The issue countries like India are raising gives a clue to what is going on. The Ministry of External Affairs says that coal is and will remain an important part of India’s energy mix, as it has always been, as we move forward to meet our developmental priorities in our country. This was said in a press conference ahead of the Dubai summit. We can also understand the dilemma of countries like China that believe in the philosophy of consumption. The two dominant ideological streams of the millennium—capitalism and socialism—do not believe in austerity. They overemphasize the conflict between nature and humanity. They treat the environment as a depository of resources. Both philosophies endorse the exploitation of natural resources. They consider increased consumption as an indicator of development. How can they move towards a harmonious relationship with nature?

Should we not discuss the impact of non-fossil fuels on our environment? Are the alternative energies free from environmental impact? Are solar batteries hazard-free? Does wind energy not adversely impact the habitat? Though they can be considered better options against climate change, they hardly put before the planet the blueprint of a sustainable civilization. They hardly guide us in saving the planet.

The whole talk of climate action is guided by the philosophy that has its origins in colonial plunder. The economic order the planet has right now does not subscribe to the idea of coexistence. We must eulogize our forefathers for talking in terms of non-violence and coexistence. Though they did not have scientific tools to evaluate the climatic catastrophe, they had the intuition to find a way to live a symbiotic lifestyle. They did it through religion. Mahatma Gandhi was the first person on the planet to discover the philosophy of symbiosis to guide our political and economic strides.

Is the language of Prime Minister Modi at these summits different from what is spoken by others? Has it any Gandhian ingredients?

(The author is a senior journalist. He has experience of working with leading newspapers and electronic media including Deccan Herald, Sunday Guardian, Navbharat Times and Dainik Bhaskar. He writes on politics, society, environment and economy)