Key Takeaways:

• With growing concerns over climate change, investing in sustainable methods for ensuring green recovery and committing to climate ambition, is the need of the hour.
• India, being one of the rapidly growing economies, needs to catch up on its target of achieving clean energy goals and act on its commitment towards creating low carbon ecosystems.
• In December 2019, the European Council endorsed the goal of achieving a climate neutral EU by 2050. The green deal is a massive paradigm shift on EU’s climate policy and its inclusion in the recovery plan in the post covid 19 world.
• The EU requires a broader understanding of climate geopolitics and improve its policy initiatives by shifting from climate security approach to environmental security.
• Climate change is one of the environmental challenges but there are multiple planetary boundaries that the world needs to overcome including ozone layer depletion, acidification of oceans, deforestation, loss of biodiversity.
• Climate security policies should not just focus on adaption to turbulence, resource clarity but also promote changes needed to restore ecological stability at the global level.
• A strategy is required which goes beyond the one- dimensional approach of decarbonisation. The countries need to focus on low carbon growth trajectory and focus on net zero goal for 2050 like Europe.
• India is most vulnerable to climate change and it has become more conscious of its vulnerability. The frequency of floods, tsunami and other natural disasters have increased in the recent years.
• There is a need for changing the domestic approach to bring about a change in the international climate diplomacy.
• The first manifestation of changing India’s climate diplomacy was reflected at COP15 conference in Copenhagen in 2009 and United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun in 2010. These transformative international forums set the stage for the Paris Agreement in 2015 where yesterday’s critics become today’s champion.
• India has developmental and demographic challenges and economic growth is central to bring it back to its growth trajectory.
• India cannot afford a fossil fuel phase-out but should aim at fossil fuel phase-down where for example, by 2035, all passenger vehicles are converted to electric vehicles.
• Countries have been utilising technology for innovative methods to devise clean and renewable energy and there might be energy storage devices in the future.
• The realisation that science evolves rapidly and technological solutions and so innovations, which might be relevant at one point might not be relevant at another point. India needs a roadmap of going green in tandem with the technological advancements.
• There is a need for improving standard of living, energy needs, urbanisation but needs to be done in a greener, sustainable and eco-friendly way. This is the main objective of climate diplomacy.
• India needs to assume an aggressive position on climate diplomacy and should lead from the front before heading to Glasgow for the COP26. India may not have created the problem historically but should be part of the solution both at the national and international level.
• India is people surplus but land deficit country where land is mostly used for agriculture and food production hence biofuels are not a feasible option due to the energy balance aspect as a country has to spend more energy into producing biofuel than it gets in return.
• India signed the Montreal Protocol which has been amended to phase down hydrofluorocarbons.
• There is a need for improving forestry, increasing green cover in India from 25 % to 33 %.
• It is important to connect the dots between climate and sustainability, make a net positive contribution and not just mitigate effects of climate change.
• There is the need for radical change, a holistic approach, cooperative federalism, and alignment between stakeholders.