How India has signalled a shift in the way it views climate crisis https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-climate/how-india-has-signalled-a-shift-in-the-way-it-views-climate-crisis-9821960/ by Amitabh Sinha The country has questioned the “excessive preoccupation” of the international climate regime to achieve a specific temperature goal and argued that for developing countries like itself, adaptation must take precedence over reducing emissions.
...The shift in India’s emphasis seems to be prompted by a reassessment of ground realities. The world is nowhere close to meeting its emissions reduction targets for 2030 or 2035 due to inaction largely on the part of the developed countries. In fact, global emissions are still on the rise.
Appreciable benefits of mitigation accrue only when the world as a whole reduces emissions by a significant amount. Also, these benefits are not witnessed immediately as global warming is caused not by the amount of greenhouse gases being emitted, but by their concentration in the atmosphere over time...
Currently, India only seems to be asserting that the choices of low-carbon development, and the pace of energy transition, should be decided by itself and not dictated by others. While that is a fair and reasonable ask, it is more on India than the rest of the world to make this happen. For example, if manufacturing and technology capabilities related to clean energy are not scaled up significantly, India will continue to remain dependent on foreign supply chains. The country would also not be in a position to make independent choices on energy transition.