Speech at "Renewable Energy & Climate Change: Problems & Prospects" on February 11-12, 2016 at Shyam Lal College, Shahdara, Delhi

Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen

I am humbled to speak in the presence of such an esteemed and experienced panel.

It is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to address you all today and to deliver a strong message to fight climate change, one of the greatest challenges of our time.

Let me start by sharing the story of Radha, a widow from a village in Telangana. Her husband committed suicide because of the failure of crop. She has two children to raise but now also a farm to take care of. The crop is completely dependent on rain fed agriculture and with erratic power supply, it doesn't really help having a borewell.

The land she owns is seriously degraded; the water she drinks is not safe. While she enjoys great solidarity from neighbours and relatives, Radha's life is precarious. She witnesses changing conditions of her environment, which affect the productivity of her land. Though she had heard people speak about climate change, she had no clue that activities undertaken by fellow Humans, thousands of kilometres away from her village would affect her life.

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Sadly, This is a story not far from reality. Warming of the climate system is now evident from various scientific findings as well as from observations. As per Intergovernmental panel for Climate change (IPCC), extreme weather events are on the rise around the world. 2015 was  recorded as warmest year in the history. We are seeing more and more hailstorms, floods, droughts, cyclones than ever. Three out of the four metros are coastal cities, any disaster here will take years to cope with.

For a country like India, Climate change is a great challenge and a tremendous opportunity to move towards a low carbon, resource efficient and sustainable development society. Indeed development pathways influence climate change, and climate change could have significant impacts on development.

There is an urgent, but very simple, reason why we need to address the issue of climate change: the world is running out of carbon space. As per IPCC to stay under 2 degrees C, all we have is around 1000 Gt of Carbon space. Crossing that 2 degree target will only mean increase in extreme weather events which the world may not be ready to face. Infact, in the Paris agreement countries negotiated to try and keep the temperature under 1.5 degrees which would have been commendable if only an action plan to maintain it was also discussed.

We at CSE have analysed that to develop to a certain level, the required amount of carbon space is only going to come down in the future. We are only going to get more and more efficient but there is a need to apportioning of the global atmospheric commons, which is arguably the most important political challenge the world faces today.

India inspite of being the fourth largest emitter of CO2 has a Human development index of 0.6 and a per capita emissions 1.7 tonnes which is way below the world average. It is also because historically we have not emitted due to various reasons. The targets committed by India in the recent Paris conference to reduce its emission intensity and its commitment to increase the share of renewables  are commendable. It is evident that renewable energy is meant to grow, our energy potential is meant to grow but It is also evident that we need to change the way we do business if we want to grow efficiently. We have a billion aspiring people to provide more than just food, clothing and shelter.

In the run up to the Paris conference on climate change, there were 5 things india wanted in the Paris agreement text which will decide the way forward

1. Equity
2. CBDR
3. Loss and damage
4. Finance and tech transfer
5. Capacity building

What India got is the agreement under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC);

• a mention of the fact that this agreement will be guided by principle of equity and Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR)
• the words climate Justice for some and Lifestyle changes in the preamble.
• A section on loss and development,
• Mention of finance but no clear guidelines

But if you observe the text carefully, you will notice that there are still some threads still left to negotiate further.

The reason why India was not able to get everything it rightfully deserves is also because it was pushed into corner for claiming that coal will still be the major source of energy in 2030 but its announcement of the solar alliance was seen as a major push from a developing country that they are serious about climate change.

Renewable energy not only stands out as a potential solution for reducing our emissions but also as a tool to place India as an efficient developing country in race for being a super power. As per some estimates all we need is a land as big as the Jodhpur district to provide electricity t everyone in this country. But it is not easy as it is being made to sound, there are many technical, financial issues to deal with first.

As per India’s climate action plan (INDC), in 2030 India will need triple the electricity demand it has now. It is a humongous challenge. Coal is proposed to be a major source of energy even in 2030. But the good news is that renewable energy is going to grow. India has committed to increase its share in non fossil fuel to 40% in installed capacity by 2030. When Renewable energy and Energy efficiency go hand in, the gains are only going to be bigger.

With the challenges ahead of us we have to enter a new era of partnerships. Over the last 10 to 15 years, leaders in the political, environmental, scientific, and economic fields have recognized that environment and climate change will require cooperation across disciplines, and that the solutions are not only technical but also connected to our moral obligations of providing a better life to all.

States, international organizations and the public sector in general are expected to push commitments and show political will to help policies that preserve our environment, create jobs and leave no one behind. We need leaders and champions, and it is by working together that we will achieve our sustainable development and climate action goals. Let morality and not economics alone drive the leaders.

This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is why we are here today. We may or may not know this, Radha from the story I told today and her poor family place high hopes in meetings like this where the next big change could happen.

Thank you very much.