Editorial 1: A climate question for G20
Context:
- Recently, Chandrayaan-3’s successful landing on the moon, and this quarter’s (Q1FY24) GDP growth rate of 7.8 per cent, will bolster India’s image in the upcoming G20 final meetings, scheduled on September 9-10.
- India is likely to announce India’s emergence on the global stage during this Amrit Kaal up to 2047, making science and economy deliver for humanity at large under the philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ – One Earth, One Family, One Future.
Addressing the challenge of climate change as India is doing in areas of science and economy
- The question is raised, how can India with its G20 presidency walk the talk to benefit the masses in the Global South for whom food and nutritional security is still a challenge, one made worse by climate change?
- The chalanges related to food security can be resolved with the adoption of Deccan High-Level Principles as outlined in the ‘Outcome Document and Chair’s Summary’ of the Agriculture Working Group (AWG) of G20 nations that was held on June 15-17 at Hyderabad
- The Deccan High-Level Principles are:
- One, facilitate humanitarian assistance to countries and populations in vulnerable situations;
- two, enhance availability and access to nutritious food and strengthen food safety nets;
- three, strengthen policies and collaborative actions for climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture and food systems;
- four, strengthen resilience and inclusivity in agriculture and food value chains;
- five, promote the one health approach;
- six, accelerate innovation and the use of digital technology, and
- seven, scale-up responsible public and private investments in agriculture.
- These are steps in the right direction. However, implementing these principles in a time-bound manner remains a challenge
AWG promotes climate resilient and sustainable agricultural practices
- AWG of G20 highlighted priority areas to encourage diversification in agriculture, promoting sustainable agriculture, and channelling financial resources towards environmentally conscious and climate-resilient farming.
- This involves adopting climate-smart farming practices and precision technologies for agricultural production to withstand climate fluctuations.
- As India demonstrate the application of precision technologies in space, with Chandrayaan-3 by spending a fraction of the cost that the US would incur for the same feat, in the same way Indian can develop technologies to help farmers overcome challenges of extreme weather events
- It could then share these technologies with other countries of the Global South. We believe this is feasible and can be done cost-effectively, provided it’s on the government’s priority list and there is a time-bound action plan.
- The ultimate goal is to enhance the efficiency and resilience of agri-value chains and promote digitisation as a catalyst for agricultural transformation.
- This includes the establishment of standardised agricultural data platforms as digital public goods and harnessing novel digital technologies to revolutionise the agri-food sector. Sensor-equipped drips, drones and LEOs (Low Earth Orbits), for instance, can be used in agriculture to get “more from less”, saving the planet’s scarce resources
Promoting the food and nutritional security via higher investment in agri-R&D
- The AWG’s proceedings also highlight the need to promote food and nutritional security via higher investment in agri-R&D, especially biofortification.
- Encouraging research in biofortification and disseminating information on fortified crop varieties to farmers is key to achieving nutritional security.
- ICAR scientists have already demonstrated that even basic staple crops such as wheat, rice, maize, and millet can be bio-fortified with enhanced iron, zinc, and even anti-oxidants.
- ICAR has created 87 varieties of climate-resistant and nutritious crops. These crops include rice, wheat ,maize , finger millet ,lentil , groundnut, mustard, soybean, potato , sweet potato and pomegranate varieties, which were developed as a result of collaboration between national and international organisations.
- However, the dissemination of this research to the Global South is equally important for India. India’s zinc-rich rice and wheat, which can be shared with countries of the Global South.
- Biofortification is much more cost-effective compared to supplementing rice with nutrients, say iron, in our public distribution system. But India spends only 0.48 per cent of agri-GDP on agri-R&D. This needs to be doubled, if the country has to play the role of a leader.
Conclusion
- The AWG also highlights the “significance of strengthening a rules-based, open, predictable, transparent, non-discriminatory, inclusive, equitable and sustainable multilateral trading system”.
- It also emphasises working together to improve our food systems by strengthening local, regional, and international agri-food value chains. This can lead to affordable and accessible food, agricultural inputs, and products.
- Therefore, G20 needs to work closer, faster, and smarter with demonstrable results by 2030 to feed this world and also save the planet, by making it green and clean.
Editorial 2: Transition without playbook
Context:
- In order to fight against the climate change, the nations are making effort for green energy transition
- However, the energy transition is complex process that requires effort to shift a $100 trillion global economy built on fossil fuels to one underpinned by clean energy
Achieving for green energy transition
- In order to achieve it,
- The industrial and transportation systems must be electrified through green energy,
- technological advancement must bring down the costs of generation and storage,
- infrastructure must be upgraded and innovative financing mechanisms developed to finance this upgradation.
- Along with it, demand conservation and energy efficiency must be the running thread that connects all initiatives.
Challenges related to green energy transition
- Two verities frame the green energy transition
- One, it is taking place at a time when the energy order has fragmented.
- Global leaders remind each other that climate change recognises no national borders.
- Many governments are incentivising investors to create green energy capacity in their national backyard and are raising high fences to protect the investment
- For example, Inflation Reduction Act enacted by the US Congress in 2022. The value of the tax credits, subsidies, guarantees and grants on offer under this act is $365 billion — possibly the most generous green energy package ever legislated.
- Europe has also put in place a similar set of incentives, albeit less generous and the production-linked incentive scheme in India is cut from a similar mould.
- Two, it has distributional consequences:
- There will be less need for coal miners and oil riggers and more for engineers who can install and maintain solar modules, wind turbines and batteries
- Governments face the social choice of deciding how to distribute the costs and benefits.
- As, The IMF reported that in 2022, governments allocated $1.5 trillion to explicitly subsidise fossil fuels. The report added that if the implicit cost of underpricing the consequential negative externality of air pollution and global warming the world would have spent the equivalent of 7.1 per cent of global GDP to “support” fossil fuels.
- Keeping in mind the fact that global warming cannot be tackled without shifting away from fossil fuels
Steps need to be taken
- Providing the rule based financial incentive mechanism to promote green energy along with limiting the government subsidies for fossil fuel-based energy transition
- Making availability of resources and technologies for green energy equipment:
- As semiconductor devices which are used to generate green energy contains lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper, these are mainly regulated by China
- Therefore, there is need to rise of new centres of energy power with China in pole position in the supply of minerals essential for the transition and the West in control of the levers of sophisticated technology and equipment
Conclusion
- The energy transition has to be accelerated. Institutions have to be built that facilitate global cooperation, skill development and technology transfer and also enable the mediation of the domestic and international conflicts that have been inevitably aroused.
- Therebefore, it will help in green energy transition at national and international level.