Seeding a policy without the dirt on climate change

"ICAR says knowledge of climate change impact in India is 'fragmentary'"

There are no conclusive studies in India on the prospective impact of climate change on the agriculture sector including livestock and fisheries. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Seeding a policy without the dirt on climate change Then, how can the government be tailoring its policies to mitigate the impact of climate change on agriculture.

The government is moving towards the 12th Plan with a strategy that has potential to affect the country's food security and make it dependent on imports in the long term.

The simple requirement of farmers on the ground is advanced and accurate information on weather. Coastal States seek policies to sustain productive and protective habitats such as mangroves, coral reefs, wetlands and fisheries. Hilly States want development of traditional forest land to indigenously manage natural resources. High-altitude States prefer integrated soil and watershed management in a farming system mode to sustain them through the year. But the government has done precious little towards this.

Rather than the top-down policy shifts that could jeopardise food security, there is pressing need for honest location-specific research in partnership with small and marginal farmers to assess over a period of time the impact of climate change.

Instead of being driven by international funding, such research should be driven by the needs of farmers.

Lessons from the Durban Conference

"If India wants 'equity' back in the climate change debate, it must develop a grand strategy and a strong negotiating team to see it through."

The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : Lessons from the Durban Conference: The overall results of the Durban conference do not make comfortable reading for India. However, industrialised countries have now agreed to a 'second commitment period' of the Kyoto Protocol, which requires them to reduce their emissions in a legally binding manner, potentially up to 2020.

The most important decision that parties took at Durban was to replace the ongoing negotiating process on 'Long-term Cooperative Action' (LCA) with 'Durban Platform for Enhanced Action' which remarkably fails to make even a passing reference to the foundational principles of combating climate change on the basis of 'equity' and  to preserve the notion of 'differentiation' between developed and developing countries, recognised through the principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities' (CBDR) under UNFCCC.

The outcome of the Durban conference - and India's failure to attain most of its stated objectives - should now raise serious questions about the wisdom of its negotiating strategy, and especially its alliance management.

If the interests of billion Indians are to be adequately safeguarded in the coming decade and beyond, it is imperative that India develops both a coherent grand strategy to address climate change that enjoys broad cross-party parliamentary support, and a strong negotiating team to see it through.

Durban is a wake-up call that India must not ignore.

India's stake in Arctic cold war

"Will it be the next geopolitical battleground or remain the common heritage of humankind?"

It is estimated that the arctic region may hold over 40% of the current global reserves of oil and gas. There may also be significant reserves of coal, zinc and silver.  The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : India's stake in Arctic cold war: Arctic shipping routes will cut global shipping routes by several thousand kms. All these increase the geopolitical importance of the Northern Tier countries.

The sharpening tensions arising out of long-standing territorial disputes among the Arctic countries are also a consequence of the prospects of significant economic and strategic gains. What happens in the Arctic may well trigger a negative change in the Antarctic.

The distribution of the world's critical resources would be drastically rearranged. The geopolitical centre of gravity may well swing back from the Asia-Pacific to the trans-Atlantic. Is the world on the threshold of a new geopolitical contest, centred on the warming waters of the Arctic?

It is ironic that while on the one hand the world is grappling with global warming triggered by climate change, the world's major powers are scrambling to profit from its consequences in the fragile Arctic zone. The ongoing multilateral negotiations on climate change under the U.N. may soon become irrelevant.

The Arctic Ocean is as much a “global commons” as is the Antarctica. Non-Arctic countries need to assert their right to have their say in the management of the Arctic. India should mobilise international public opinion in favour of declaring the Arctic a common heritage of mankind and sponsoring an international legal regime on the lines of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, where the territorial claims of states have been shelved for the duration of the Treaty. Placing this on the U.N. agenda during India's term in the Security Council and initiating international action on it could be a historic contribution by India in its role as a responsible global power.

Shyam Saran, the author, is a former Foreign Secretary. He is currently Chairman, RIS, and Senior Fellow, CPR.

Mitigate Climate Change

A healthy dialogue will firm up effective policies


Mitigate Climate Change

-The Times of India, January 19, 2012

The finance ministry has decided to include an entire chapter on financing measures to mitigate climate change in the next annual Economic Survey. The article discusses the challenges that lie ahead, and the relationship between climate change and economic development.