This handbook has 28 papers in five parts
covering a wide spectrum of issues with a comprehensive introduction by the
editor and a foreword by the then Minister of Environment and Forests Mr Jairam
Ramesh reflecting the Government’s recent approach and current perspectives.
The first part comprising five papers address
the science of climate change and implications to India through macro-perspectives
and micro-examples. While issues of sea-level raise and adaptation of
horticulture in the Himalayas are indicative, this section could have included
some work on the implications to arid zones in India which hosts the maximum
number of people and is already in an agrarian crises. The concluding paper in
this section by Ramachandran is very useful to understand the complexity of
collaborative scientific research and the pitfalls in the process as adopted by
the IPCC and the Indian Government.
The second part is short comprising two
articles of this short history of climate science. The first one being excerpts
from Centre for Science and Environment’s pioneering attempt to bring
per-capita emissions to the centre stage by taking the then prevailing notion
head-on. The first person account of Chandrasekhar on the making of UNFCCC reflects
the tensions that go on behind the negotiations and clearly indicates the
polarization among developed and less developed countries since its origin.
The third part focuses on the process and
concerns of international climate negotiations presenting views from within and
outside. Sandeep Sengupta traces the history and India’s role and Lavanya
eloquently articulates the complex principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities
and respective capabilities’ (CBDRRC), which has been often talked about by the
Government. The next long paper Jayaram et al, exhaustively describe the
carbon-budget approach and the need for a transition to such a regime. The
utility of such an approach in providing a temporal dimension to the CBDRRC
merits deeper work and understanding to provide for actual entitlements from
global to local levels. The next article by Rao, touches upon the equity and
ethical issues. This is an area where the handbook could have covered more
ground, especially as Indian CSO’s were among to recognise the ethical aspects
of climate change and not just because reviewer himself being a part of the
network that was established in 1994. As the article points out, unless there
is a common ethical basis, the negotiations will continue to be jockeyed
around. The article by Pradipto Ghosh on
India’s position is more a clichéd attempt at justifying the stand of the State
and its unsustainable development pathway with a feeble attempt to garner
technology and resources while the next paper by Raghunandan points out how
such a position has outlived its utility and reflects upon the continuing
adhocism of the State and call for a coherent framework based on more positive
approaches that can also translate into domestic action. The reflections of
outsiders on the position of India seem predictable. The view from Europe dismisses
the idea of per-capita emissions and rather tame in including the fact that the
implications were unknown in the past.
The view of Bangladesh and Philippines seeking a focus on embarking on
new development path is understandable but seems aspirational rather than
pragmatic as all the countries continue to develop in the same model of high
material use. The important highlight of the reflection from China is the need
to ward off the isolating tendency of the west, as the development needs of both
countries are similar. In contrast, the view from USA focuses more on the
differences between India and China and pushes for bilateralism with the USA.
The next long section, Part IV of the
handbook looks at the domestic politics of climate change and begins with an
article by the editor who provides an excellent overview to capture the trends.
Lele’s paper on the Indian environmental movements and their approaches to
climate change reflects the diversity and rather tricky position while
approaching the responses and highlights the dilemma faced by people from
different initial positions in using climate change as tool to critique the
current growth paradigm. Chakravarty and Ramana elucidate the debate on ‘hiding
behind the poor’ and how the intra-country disparities are only the ‘latest
manifestation’ of the disparities between the rich and poor in India. Suresh
Prabhu points out to important lacunae in our Parliamentary democracy where the
Executive has all powers vested in them in international engagements. The
excerpts from the Parliamentary debates indicate a rich understanding of the
parliamentarians. The party biases and contextual reflections in the situation
of global events strengthen the contention of Raghunandan of adhocism at the
highest level. Two articles by Tarun Das and Simone Pulver address private and
corporate sector views. It clearly indicates how well entrenched corporate
India is in the echelons for power and how co-benefits drive the agenda rather
than a deeper concern for climate change. Jogesh provides a statistical and
deeper content analysis of the trends in reportage in print media. He alludes
to how from a small number of spokespersons there is a diverse and more nuanced
reporting on climate.
The Part V of the handbook explores sectoral
views for integrating climate change and development, a focus of the various
Climate missions being evolved by the Government. The first article on energy
Girish Sant (whom we unfortunately lost recently) and Gambhir, addresses the
two major areas of energy and climate concern namely power and transport. It
elaborates on the two sectors and warns of consequences of accepting emission
limits in the next two decades or buckle to pressures of declaring a “peaking
year”. Mukhopadhyay and Revi reflect upon urbanization as an inevitable
consequence of growth and suggest a variety of institutional and operational
mechanisms. Rajeswari Raina poses the question whether sustainable climate
friendly systems for agriculture is possible. While reiterating agriculture as
a sector that is a net energy producer and an ideal carbon capture medium, the
ultimate goal can be achieved only by re-building the human and ecological
systems in rural India. Kulkarni and Thakkar wade through the complexities of
water resources in the context of climate change and seek to peg this as an
opportunity to the failing water management regime in the country. It is
redeeming in the vast handbook to find them reflect that solutions to water
management just do not lie within the sector alone and the need for wider
integration is absolutely essential. Gopalakrishnan posits the question whether
the climate talks over reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation of
forests (REDD) and its extended version including afforestation are real
solutions for mitigation or they are another instrument in the continuing saga
of exploitation of the poor in the name of conservation. He clear analysis
indicates that this might be more of a false solution. Patwardhan and Neharji
broadly analyse the S&T situation in India and draw up a brief agenda for
multilateral processes in the introduction and adoption of climate friendly
technologies.
The section could perhaps have a critique
of whether such sectoral approaches are themselves tenable for integration and
as it unfolds, the missions themselves seem to repackaging of the current
activities of the different sectors.
The last part comprises two articles by
very senior bureaucrats who have been thickly engaged with the debate and
reflect their deeper understanding. Shyam Sharan writing on mainstreaming
climate change clearly argues that despite a shift from disposability to
durability, we are not irretrievably locked into the high energy and resource
intensive path and should build upon our civilizational legacy and lead in
redefining the path lest we hit the dead end. Looking at the geopolitics of
climate change, Nitin Desai concludes that while there is a significant debate,
climate diplomacy is unlikely to shift the global balance of power but might be
useful in forging cooperation in other areas.
The subject itself is vast and opinions
often diverse as the editor himself states “there is certainly no intent to
paper over the disagreement or seek premature consensus, but rather to promote
dialogue by deepening understanding within India, and with its international
interlocutors”. Thus the volume is more
for a climate change buff, rather than on a general reader for whom it would be
difficult to easily understand and assimilate the range of issues. The editor
and authors must be complimented for meeting the objective to cater to the
demand for informed and knowledgeable perspectives.
Finally, the cost of the book (Rs 1250),
is high for the poor Indian researcher but a book which should be an essential
collection of all the libraries catering to climate researchers.