EAM Jaishankar calls for resourcing solutions to address climate change problems

New Delhi [India], June 30 : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday called for the resourcing of solutions to address the problems of climate change at the India Global Forum 2021.
"The issue isn't recognising the problem, it's resourcing the solution. Real worrying is if you look at the history of how we dealt with climate change, we've seen promises year after year and conference after conference. We've seen continuous inability to live up to those promises," said Jaishankar.
EAM Jaishankar was in conversation with former Prime Minister of the UK, Tony Blair at the India Global Forum 2021 - 'Global Leadership Radical Actions for a Post-Pandemic Era'.
Talking about the Indian perspective on climate change he said that the country understands the problem and there aren't too many climate skeptics in New Delhi.
"When it comes to climate change let's understand how it looks from India's perspective. I think people need to understand we all get it. There aren't too many climate skeptics in our part of the world. In fact, more probably in developed countries," said the EAM.
"The real issue is, do we have the commitment to put in the resources to deal with that. That's something which particularly the countries, who have occupied much of the carbon space, have to find answers," added Jaishankar.
He also expressed disappointment over the G7 leaders as they didn't make any advance commitment to climate change regarding net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 (COP 26).
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Synthesis Report, has called for more ambitious climate action plans by the countries in order to achieve the Paris Agreement target of containing global temperature rise to 2°C (ideally 1.5°C) by the end of the century.
The report was sought ahead of the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 26) to the UNFCCC which is scheduled to take place from 1-12 November 2021, in Glasgow, UK.
NDCs are at the heart of the Paris Agreement and embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Each NDC reflects the country's ambition, taking into account its domestic circumstances and capabilities.
Replying to Jaishankar, Blair put forth some ideas around resourcing- key to unlocking more rapid progress.
He said, "The key is to do two things, First of all, we have to incentivise the development of science and technology. The only way that we are going to be able to deal with climate change is if we are able to grow more sustainably and that means discovering the technologies of the future and making sure the technologies can cut carbon emissions or eliminate them."
He advised accelerating the pace to provide the right frameworks to achieve the target of net zero-emission. "We've got to do everything possible that we can to provide the right frameworks within which the development of that science and technology is going to achieve and that's everything from aviation fuel to how we do agriculture."
Giving an example of the UK, Blair said. "We in the UK will have to replace all the boilers in the house that are the old-fashioned ones and install new ones. There is a whole set of really practical things that need to be done in the development of science and technology. We are gonna have to do it."
He supported Jaishankar's point about the role of developed countries regarding carbon emission and resourcing of solutions. "The wealthy part of the world that is essentially created the problem has got then to put in place the resourcing for the developing worlds as it grows and as for example it gets access to more electricity and to transport links. We have to do that in a sustainable way and that is going to be a question of putting together for example the financing for big projects of clean energy in continents like Africa allowing people to do carbon-capturing storage and to be able to reduce their carbon emissions," said Blair.
"They are going to be growing over these next few years because they can't grow, they can't lift their people out of poverty. So, this is it - those two key things that I think got to be the building blocks of action and we need to do more on all of them and COP 26 at the end of the year in Scotland at Glasgow will be the opportunity for the world to set out a practical plan to get there," added Blair.