India Submits its Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy to UNFCCC (GS Paper 3, Environment)
Why in news?
- Recently, India submitted its Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), during the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27).
(Newscinema)
Details:
- The Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy was launched by the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav, who is leading the Indian delegation to COP 27, being held at Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt from 6-18 November, 2022.
- The document has been prepared after extensive consultations held by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change with all relevant Ministries and Departments, State Governments, research institutions, and civil society organisations.
The salient features of the strategy are –
Transition from fossil fuels inEnergy security:
- The focus will be on the rational utilization of national resources with due regard to energy security. The transitions from fossil fuels will be undertaken in a just, smooth, sustainable and all-inclusive manner.
- The National Hydrogen Mission launched in 2021 aims to make India a green hydrogen hub.
- The rapid expansion of green hydrogen production, increasing electrolyser manufacturing capacity in the country, and three-fold increase in nuclear capacity by 2032 are some of the other milestones that are envisaged alongside overall development of the power sector.
Reducing carbon emission of the transport sector:
- Increased use of biofuels, especially ethanol blending in petrol, the drive to increase electric vehicle penetration, and the increased use of green hydrogen fuel are expected to drive the low carbon development of the transport sector.
- India aspires to maximise the use of electric vehicles, ethanol blending to reach 20% by 2025, and a strong modal shift to public transport for passenger and freight.
Climate resilient urban development:
- While urbanisation will continue as a strong trend from our current relatively low base, future sustainable and climate resilient urban development will be driven by smart city initiatives, integrated planning of cities for mainstreaming adaptation and enhancing energy and resource efficiency, effective green building codes and rapid developments in innovative solid and liquid waste management.
Low carbon development transitions in industrial sector:
- India’s industrial sector will continue on a strong growth path, in the perspective of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’. Low carbon development transitions in the sector should not impact energy security, energy access and employment.
- The focus will be on improving energy efficiency by the Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme,National Hydrogen Mission, high level of electrification in all relevant processes and activities, enhancing material efficiency and recycling leading to expansion of circular economy, and exploring options for hard-to-abate sectors, such as steel, cement, aluminium and others.
Forest Cover:
- India has a strong record of enhancing forest and tree cover in the last three decades alongside high economic growth.
- India’s forest fire incidence is well below global levels, while its forest and tree cover are a net sink absorbing 15% of CO2 emissions in 2016.
- India is on track to fulfilling its NDC commitment of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of additional carbon sequestration in forest and tree cover by 2030.
Climate finance:
- The transition to low carbon development pathway will entail several costs pertaining to the development of new technologies, new infrastructure, and other transaction costs.
- While several estimates exist, varying across studies, they all fall generally in the range of trillions of dollars by 2050.
- Provision of climate finance by developed countries will play a very significant role and needs to be considerably enhanced, in the form of grants and concessional loans, ensuring scale, scope and speed, predominantly from public sources, in accordance with the principles of the UNFCCC.
About long-term low-carbon development strategy:
- The Paris Agreement in Article 4, paragraph 19, states, “All Parties should strive to formulate and communicate long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies, mindful of Article 2 taking into account their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances.”
- Further, COP 26 at Glasgow in November 2021, in Decision 1/CP.26, inter alia, (i) urged Parties that have not yet done so to communicate their LT-LEDS by COP 27 (November 2022).
India’s approach:
India’s approach is based on the following four key considerations that underpin its long-term low-carbon development strategy:
- India has contributed little to global warming, its historical contribution to cumulative global GHG emissions being minuscule despite having a share of ~17% of the world’s population.
- India has significant energy needs for development.
- India is committed to pursuing low-carbon strategies for development and is actively pursuing them, as per national circumstances
- India needs to build climate resilience.
- The two themes of “climate justice” and “sustainable lifestyles”, alongside the principles of Equity and Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC), in the light of national circumstances, that India had emphasized at Paris, are at the heart of a low-carbon, low-emissions future.
- Similarly, the LT-LEDS has been prepared in the framework of India’s right to an equitable and fair share of the global carbon budget, which is the practical implementation of India’s call for “climate justice.”
- This is essential to ensure that there are no constraints on realizing India’s vision of rapid growth and economic transformation, while protecting the environment.
- The LT-LEDS is also informed by the vision of LiFE, Lifestyle for the Environment, that calls for a world-wide paradigm shift from mindless and destructive consumption to mindful and deliberate utilization.
India fastest among other G20 economies: IMF
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Why in news?
- Recently, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) 2022, World Economic Outlook, October has projected India’s real GDP growth forecast to be the fastest among other G20 economies.
- It has said that the “recent high-frequency indicators confirm that the global economic growth outlook in gloomier” than projected earlier.
Background:
- In September 2022, India, surpassed the United Kingdom, to become the fifth-largest economy in the world.
- Morgan Stanley in its recent report has forecast that India will be world’s third-largest economy by 2027.
India’s GDP forecast vis-à-vis the US:
- According to IMF, 2022, World Economic Outlook, October, India’s economic growth in October 2023 is projected to at 6.1 per cent, while that of the United States is expected to be 1.0 per cent.
- As per the IMF, India’s economic growth for October 2027 is projected at 6.2 per cent, while for the US’ it is seen at 1.9 per cent.
(Newsbharti)
GDP forecast of China and the EU:
- China’s growth forecast for October 2023 is projected at 4.4 per cent and for October 2027 it is seen at 4.6 per cent.
- For the European Union, October 2023 growth forecast is seen at mere 0.7 per cent, while for October 2027, it is seen at 1.7 per cent.
Challenges before the global economy:
- Global economic growth prospects are confronting a unique mix of headwinds, including from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, interest rate increases to contain inflation, and lingering pandemic effects such as China’s lockdowns and disruptions in supply chains.
- The IMF has lowered its global growth forecast for 2023 to 2.7 per cent.
- The IMF said that the challenges before the global economy are immense and weakening economic indicators point to further obstacles. “However, with careful policy action and joint multilateral efforts, the world can move toward stronger and more inclusive growth,” the IMF said.
India to be third largest economy by 2027:
- According to Morgan Stanley, India will become the world’s third largest economy by 2027 due to a shift in policy approach towards boosting investment, demographics advantages and the public digital infrastructure.
- It has also forecast India’s GDP to grow from the current $3.4 trillion to $8.5 trillion over the next 10 years.
- The shift in India’s policy approach is moving it closer to the East Asian model of leveraging exports, raising savings, and recycling it for investment. The economist cities the example of China and said that India’s GDP today is where China’s was in 2007 – a 15-year gap.
In Iran protests, the long fight for freedoms
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Context:
- Defying a crackdown by security forces, it is almost two months since protests started across Iran, and have lost little momentum.
Background:
- Discarding their legally-mandated Islamic head scarves, women have been at the forefront of the demonstrations over the death in September 2022 of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini who had been arrested by the morality police for wearing an ‘improper’ hijab in violation of Iranian law.
- According to eyewitnesses, Amini was beaten in custody, an assertion denied by the authorities.
(The Hindu)
How is this movement different from several previous protests in Iran?
- Unlike the previous protests, the chief source of discontent in the current movement is neither economic nor political, but for human dignity and individual rights, centring on the recognition of women as the primary victims of the regime’s male-dominated tradition and strict Islamist ideology.
- But neither is it an anti-religious movement; in fact, the protesters have deliberately eschewed the use of religious symbols or rhetoric. For the first time, the protests involve people from all sections of societyand age groups, and have spread across the country.
Protests:
- In places, protesters condemned the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei himself, calling for his death or removal.
- The movement has been marked by excessive force as security forces have attacked and shot at the demonstrators with live ammunition, and assaulted them using tear gas and batons. Some crowds in the capital have reportedly fought back by chasing the security forces and setting fire to their vehicles.
Response by the authority:
- These demonstrations are the most serious challenge to the Iranian government in years, forcing lawmakers to call for the protesters to be taught a ‘good lesson’ to deter those who defy the authority of the Iranian government.
- For the authorities, repression appears the only recourse to remain in power.
Reaction of international community:
- The American government and other western officials and rights activists have sought to remove Iran from the U.N.’s Commission on the Status of Women, the body focused on gender equality and the empowerment of women.
- These critics say women cannot be coerced into either wearing or not wearing the hijab and feminism should be equally applied whether it is a question of the rights of women in Iran or India, a pertinent reference to the Karnataka government’s hijab ban on Muslim students in government educational institutions.
On its capacity to result in change:
- In Iran’s case, without a charismatic leader and a political agenda it will be difficult to disturb the regime, which is determined not to budge.
- The evidence of history, from France in the 1780s to Sri Lanka of today, is conclusive that no regime, however unpopular, can be overturned by a people’s movement without the army switching sides to support the people.
Way Forward:
- It can only be hoped that in the near future, the plight of Afghan women under the repressive Taliban and indeed of all disadvantaged females across the world will receive equal attention and support from the international media and the international community.
France ended its military operations in Sahel
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Why in news?
- Recently, the French President announced the end of the decade-long Operation Barkhane in Africa.
What is Operation Barkhane?
- France began its military operations in Sahel in January 2013.
- Titled ‘Operation Serval’, it was limited to targeting Islamic extremists linked to al-Qaeda who took control of northern Mali. However, in 2014, the mission was scaled up, renamed Operation Barkhane and was aimed at counter-terrorism.
- The objective was to assist local armed forces to prevent the resurgence of non-state armed groups across the Sahel region.
Has France achieved its objectives?
- France has a mixed record in achieving its military objectives, with failures more evident than the successes. French operations had two objectives in the Sahel:
- To liberate Mali from the insurgency in the north and
- To see through counter-terrorism operations in West Africa, including the neutralisation of key terrorists.
- In its major successes, France regained Mali’s northern regions from the extremists in 2014 through Operation Serval.
Operation Barkhane saw a series of failures:
- The region, despite the operation, witnessed the growth of new groups affiliated to terrorist organisations, including the Islamic State.
- The failure of the operation led to a humanitarian crisis. According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), the violence had claimed 5,450 lives across Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger in just the first half of 2022, recording a significant increase from the previous years.
- Operation Barkhane’s unfulfilled objective to resolve the region’s insurgencies sparked an increase in civilian support to the military and has contributed to the subsequent political uncertainties in the Sahel.
(Optimise)
Why did France pull out?
- France’s relations with the military rulers grew hostile after a series of coups in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea. Relations between France and Mali soured after the latter expelled the French ambassador when he disagreed with the junta’s decision to remain in power until 2025. In addition, France was contemptuous about Malian authorities negotiating a peace deal with insurgent groups.
- Since Operation Barkhane was widely perceived as a failure, anti-French sentiments and questions over France’s intentions flared up, with a further demand for France’s withdrawal from the region.
- France, and other Western countries claim that the Wagner Group, a private military company close to the Kremlin, is playing a major role in fuelling the insurgency and discrediting French withdrawal.
- For Africa, the Wagner Group is an alternative that engages with military governments, without abiding to human rights and democratic standards.
What’s next for France-Africa relations?
- The end of Operation Barkhane signifies France’s acknowledgement that it did not achieve their intended objectives. The French decision is unlikely to improve Africa’s security situation and may lead to the assumption that Paris abandoned the continent.
- France’s statement indicates a willingness to restructure the French approach to Africa. However, if France aims to address its anti-French sentiment, then Paris needs to look beyond military operations and needs to engage with the political leadership, push for dialogue and understand the complex dynamics of the actors in the conflict.
- For the African leadership, particularly authoritarian and military leaders, partnering with Russia is easier. Therefore, to remain an important external partner, Paris has to fasten restructuring its Africa policy.
