Opinion
Elections done, India must unite for climate action
Summary
- Climate action is more than just about emission reduction targets. Local communities must protect their immediate environs, but we need the guidance of scientists. India needs the equivalent of America’s NASEM, a coalition of institutions that aims to advise the country on such matters.
The seven-phase general election was a stupendous achievement by any measure and places India firmly on the global map of sturdy democracies. However, the process carried a high cost in the midst of a torrid heat wave gripping much of the country. A shocking total of 43 staff, on duty on the last day of polling in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, are reported to have succumbed to the heat.
Climate scientists have long said the Indian landmass will be among the worst affected by global warming, an impact exacerbated by destruction of tree cover and other predatory gouging of natural resources. Yet, action to combat this existential threat had no play at all in the heat of electioneering rhetoric.
The very terms in which the major sparring between political parties was phrased have to be repurposed. The word ‘community’ automatically implies, in Indian usage, religious groups. But with global warming and freak climate events upon us, the word ‘community’ has to be used in its more usual global sense, as a group of people with shared geographical or occupational interests, like ‘farming community’ or ‘coastal community.’ What matters is the catastrophe confronted, whether it is forest-fire hit Uttarakhand or drought-hit Karnataka.
Also read: Climate change and the sea: Watch out for global laws
The GDP print of real growth in 2023-24 at 8.2 % may well lull us into thinking the economic engine will chug us into third place in global GDP rankings, regardless of climate doomspeak. There is also faith, fuelled by the success of space missions and digital payment channels, that the technology elite will miraculously save the country. But much of that technology elite operates from Bangalore, and like other human beings, they need water to live.
Karnataka state has historically had drought-prone districts. What brought drought conditions to Bangalore city was the decades-old assault on traditional water bodies dotting the city, which were drained to make way for housing projects, airports, hotels, casinos, pubs, you name it.
Bangalore borewells, which drew from aquifers charged by those water bodies, ran dry. In the recent freak torrential rainfall in the city, there was urban flooding in the absence of water bodies for rainwater to drain into.
Climate action is more than just about the emission reduction targets that India commits to on the international stage. Every community has to act to protect its own immediate environs. Where should climate action start? How are the priorities to be set? Can the scientific elite help point us in the right direction?
NASEM in the US is a joint action front of three independent professional bodies, its National Academies of Sciences (NAS), Engineering and Medicine. These are not taxpayer funded, but the oldest (NAS) was appointed by an Act of Congress signed into law by Abraham Lincoln in 1863.
Also read: Mint Quick edit | Can elections be scheduled to beat the heat?
The other two are more recent spinoffs under the NAS charter. On the NASEM website, topmost on its list of topics is ‘climate.’ A little further down is ‘artificial intelligence.’ Other topics further down the list are more politically flavoured, like ‘mobilizing support for Ukraine.’
Under the climate head, the activities include a monthly webinar series titled ‘Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action.’ The most recent, on 31 May, was about the considerations to keep in mind for relocation of communities displaced by climate events to be least damaging and disruptive. Then there is a Board on Environmental Change and Society, which holds virtual workshops, such as one in late May on how infrastructure can be designed to ‘reduce climate risks effectively.’
NASEM uses its considerable expertise in a wide range of fields to pick up research of relevance for climate action, not confined to work done by academy members themselves, and act as a conduit to bring the findings to the attention of policymakers and the public.
India has had formidable climate action warriors, from Alok Shukla, who successfully fought for legislation to preserve the Hasdeo forest in Chhattisgarh from the depredations of coal mining, to the Centre for Science and Environment, which has researched traditional methods of water preservation in dryland India, and notable environmental scientist Madhav Gadgil.
But there is no dissemination point, with the weight of academic assessment behind it, to prioritize climate action and exert pressure on policy at the central and state levels.
India has three autonomous science academies and a national academy of engineering, funded under Demand 89 of the Union Budget for the department of science and technology. There is also a national academy of medical sciences funded under Demand 46 for the department of health and family welfare. But there is no platform where their combined expertise can be brought together to address existential threats to life on the Indian landmass.
Also read: Deafening silence on climate issues at this election
These academies hold annual meetings where they might well host discussions or talks on issues of public interest. But they have to preach beyond the choir to the larger audience outside their protected environs.
NASEM aims to provide “independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation and conduct other activities to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions." A similar commitment by our academies will give us a firmer grip on our future.
