New Delhi: There is a need for climate finance and resources to flow into emerging countries and India should be among the first countries to industrialise without decarbonising the world, G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant said on Wednesday (May 17). While delivering Bharti Lecture on India’s G20 Presidency around digital cooperation at IIT Delhi, Mr Kant said that the world may survive in 2050 but human beings will go extinct if the world fails to meet the 1.5 degrees centigrade global warming target.
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He said that western powers polluted the world when they were industrialising and the emerging markets have contributed very little to this present climate crisis.
Mr Kant said that India has only contributed 1.5 per cent of the 2800 Gigaton of carbon space available, whereas logically on the basis of per capita income it should be entitled to 17.5 per cent.
Mr Kant said,
Irrespective of that, as we move forward, because we will become the third most polluting country in the world in due course. As we industrialize, India must become one of the first countries in the world to industrialize without carbonizing the world and therefore you need a decarbonisation strategy. You need long term financing to flow.
He said that India’s G20 Presidency has come in the midst of inflationary pressures across the world and other challenges that the world has been facing.
The former Niti Aayog CEO said that while emerging markets are growing, the resources from emerging markets are flowing to the developed part of the world, whereas growth is all happening in the emerging markets or the world. Mr Kant said that the Prime Minister has said that India will treat this G20 as an opportunity to make the G20 very action-oriented, make it decisive, inclusive and forward looking.
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Mr Kant said,
We have looked at our priorities and our priorities which India has put forward are really how to accelerate the pace of inclusive, resilient and sustainable growth for the world for the global economy.
He said that the world, instead of progressing, has actually regressed and there is a need to look at ways to accelerate the pace of sustainable development goals.
Mr Kant said,
If you look at all these SDG (Sustainable Development Goals ) and climate action, you will realize that the emerging markets require long term financing for both climate action and for sustainable development goals. This would require us to have resources flowing from the developed world to emerging markets as was committed by the Developed world in 2009 at Copenhagen.
He said that the emerging markets have not contributed to the crisis of climate action but the western power when they were industrializing.
“The developed countries have not lived up to their commitment, but more important than that there is no shortage of resources. There are vast resources available with the private sector, institutional lenders, pension funds, etc.”
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Mr Kant said,
We are not able to source that funding, because multilateral institutions like the World Bank, and IMF, were designed for a post world war two period. They were not designed for climate action.
While highlighting the global lead that India has in digital payments, data economy, he said that during the ongoing challenges, digital transformation is very important for the globe and India has continuously focussed on it as well as innovating.
Mr Kant said,
We can carry this Indian model to the rest of the world and transform the India model for the rest of the world simply because the big tech model of the United States will now come to an end as people get more conscious of their digital data.
He said that Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation has adversely impacted innovation in Europe and India will not be able to follow the European path.
Mr Kant said,
It will be very difficult for us to follow the European model because that has killed innovation. India has demonstrated that through the public track and through private sector innovation in the marketplace, this is really the future. And this to my mind is really the key to the growth of the world and to transforming the world.
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diarrhoea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
