Indian Government Response to Climate Change "Hugely Disappointing," NGO Head Malini Mehra Says

Climate Community: Are Indian business leaders – and political leaders – ready to rise to the challenge of a new international treaty on climate change and show leadership?

Malini Mehra: No. But more optimistically: Not yet. India's political class and business elites are not on the same page on climate issues. The former is disengaged and the latter largely unaware of COP15 and the process surrounding it.

Business leaders have shown an awareness of climate change and rank it as one of the top issues they face – which is encouraging. But they still expect leadership to come from the government, rather than see themselves as change agents. This needs to change. That's why we're making it a core focus of our work at the Centre for Social Markets (CSM) and building leadership platforms for business on climate change.

CC: What are the general signs you are seeing in India at the moment?

Mehra: The government's response to climate change so far has been hugely disappointing. The prime minister appointed an advisory committee to come up with a national action plan on climate change in 2007. It took them one year to come up with the plan and it seems a pretty perfunctory response. Released in June 2008, the plan is little more than a set of aspirations and a repackaging of initiatives already under way.

There are virtually no targets or timetables. While there are some bright spots – such as the focus on solar energy and a proposed domestic emissions trading scheme for the most polluting industry sectors – the plan on the whole lacks vision or urgency. Given the terrible vulnerability of India to climate change, one would have expected something bolder and more in keeping with the scale of the challenge. After all, this is not about meeting international expectations; it is about acting responsibly as a nation ourselves, in our own interest.

CC: Is cutting carbon emissions on the agenda in India, or is focus on other initiatives?

Mehra: The government couches the agenda largely in terms of adapting to the impacts of climate change. This is definitely important and far greater effort needs to be made to deal with this adequately in a nation the size of India.

But mitigation also has to be part of the equation and emissions reductions cannot be shied away from. Although our per capita emissions are only 1/10th the OECD average at present, by 2015, Indian emissions are projected to be amongst the world's largest. This is precisely when scientists tell us global emissions should be peaking. Reducing them will not happen automatically. It has to be planned for now and appropriate investments made.

We need fundamental changes to our energy economy and a far more ambitious resource efficiency and renewable program. India is already the world's 4th largest wind power, and our private sector is making major investments in solar energy. We have a good track record to build on. But it needs to be front page news, not a special interest story buried in the back pages.

CC: What are the main challenges and lines of conflict you have to deal with in India when discussing climate initiatives?

Mehra: India is a rich country with a lot of poor people. We have more billionaires than Japan, but more than 400 million people without access to electricity. Our energy poverty is the first thing officials point to when talking about climate change. That's fine, let's deal with it.

South Africa managed to electrify its rural areas within a matter of years after ending apartheid. Why haven't we managed more than 60 years after independence? We need to do better and address the persistent, historic inequities in our country. Rather than use them as an excuse, we should make them a reason and a focus for action.

CC: How do you see your own initiative "Climate Challenge India" preparing the way for India's positive contribution to the post-Kyoto process? What are your current strategic challenges in that respect?

Mehra: Climate Challenge India is the country's first national mobilization initiative on climate change. We are an independent, non-partisan, non-ideological effort to raise awareness about the issues and generate a pro-active, solutions-oriented domestic agenda. We're saying, it's not somebody's else's problem. It's our problem. Let's take ownership of it.

In 20 years time, we're not going to be obsessing about the rate of growth or GDP figures. We're going to be obsessing about the fact that our groundwater has dried up, and our ability to grow food compromised. Lack of water and food are the surest route to civil unrest and conflict. Our political leaders need to get to grips with the future today. Our key challenge is in communicating a sense of urgency to a political class, which still thinks that it is someone else's problem.

We need to do two things: make climate change a bread-and-butter issue, and change the script away from one of doom, gloom, and victimhood, to a new narrative of hope and opportunity. Unlike industrialized countries, India is not locked into centuries-old energy systems and infrastructure. The majority of our infrastructure is yet to be built.

Being climate-literate means that we have a chance of aiming for smarter development than previously climate-unaware nations were. This is an opportunity to modernize our economy in a smart and more sustainable way. That's good news.

CC: How do you see the chances of India being part of an international climate agreement?

Mehra: Given the government's track record, I'm not optimistic. But this is definitely something that we as citizens need to – and can – change. Given the response to our work so far in India, I'm hugely optimistic that change can come. This is something that we have been working towards and are determined that 2009 will go down as a watershed year in climate negotiations. As we say in our campaign, India has more than a billion good reasons for leadership. We're determined to make it happen.

CC: What are the latest developments and initiatives in India that you believe the world should be aware of?

Mehra: The fact that initiatives such as ours exist and can make a difference. At the beginning of the year, we published a book called Who's Who in Climate Change in India to coincide with Al Gore's visit to the country. This was our effort to put in one place all the people and organizations we had uncovered who were concerned with, and working on, climate change. It was our attempt to put a face on a movement and show the world (and our officials) that India is moving.

At Poznan, we'll be releasing an update to this book which now has just under 200 entries – not bad going!

CC: If you take a broader look, what is the situation across the developing nations? Are businesses and societies in developing countries ready to lead? What will such a leadership entail?

Mehra: The state of the debate is different in each country. China's leadership has shown a serious and constructive approach to the issues, and South Africa's government has been remarkably progressive. There needs to be more indigenous debate in every country so that governments can truly come to Copenhagen with a mandate. People need to see this as an issue that will fundamentally affect their lives and their children's lives.

We need leaders from all walks of life who can communicate this and make a positive and hopeful case for change. With public opinion on our side I think we can move the politics on this issue. We have to.