Climate change and growth

Greater efficiency in energy use is what India needs to strive for as it balances environmental sustainability and economic growth.

Climate change and global warming are fairly high on the agenda of most governments thanks to heightened awareness of their potentially adverse effects. But in practice, across nations, there is a wide variation in policy response to the emerging threat. This is not surprising because different countries have different priorities depending on their state of economic progress. Governments, especially in major emerging economies, are forced to strike a balance between domest ic compulsions — poverty alleviation, for instance — and policies that help combat climate change. Obviously, it is a political call that governments take. Responsible and responsive policymaking will surely have to take into account threat perceptions of climate change; but that can hardly qualify to be any country’s single point agenda. If we accept sustainable growth and development as the way forward, it subsumes the climate change issues. At the same time, we cannot ignore the inherent contradiction in the expression ‘sustainable growth’. Growth essentially involves exploiting natural resources for human benefit and countries have to strike a delicate balance between environmental sustainability and economic growth. It is easier said than done.

While it may be reasonable to assume that the adverse effects of climate change are by now well documented and largely understood, communication and research in the area of ‘adaptation and mitigation’ seem to have taken a backseat. The negative covenants — the don’ts — are increasingly being professed, such as for instance, reduction in use of cars. Yet, it should be possible to harness technology to fight climate change without compromising on growth. Climate experts and scientists should now begin to seriously look at researching, evolving and disseminating suitable technologies to mitigate global warming. That said, it would be a pity if acknowledged experts get carried away by their own convictions and oft-repeated statements, and criticise individual enterprises. A case in point is recent criticism of the Nano by experts who believe that more such cars on the road will result in more emission. It may be true, but that can hardly be the justification for not launching a low-priced car. The Nano is simply meeting the market demand. If anything, the anger of these experts should be directed against policymakers who did nothing to improve the public transport system.

Greater efficiency in energy use is what India needs to strive for. For a country that cannot afford to compromise on economic growth, that not only makes economic sense because it means producing more with less but is also climate friendly for it does not unduly enlarge the carbon footprint.