Editorial 1: G20 meet’s climate action promise
Recent Context:
- Recently, during the G20 summit, nations committed to work towards tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030 that shows new and clear deliverable on climate action
- According to an assessment by the International Energy Agency (IEA) earlier this year, this single measure could prevent 7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.
It is achievable target with commited efforts:
- Incidentally, tripling of renewable capacities was also among the lowest-hanging fruits available to the G20 grouping on the climate front, despite some initial reservations from traditional fossil fuel-producing countries like Russia and Saudi Arabia.
- Renewable energy is already being deployed at a rapid pace across the world, with annual capacity additions growing by around 10% every year.
- For countries like India and China, the growth of renewable energy is also the most preferred way to contribute to the global fight against climate change, and bring down the role of fossil fuels in their economies.
- As per, recent IEA assessment, tripling renewable capacity by 2030 is an ambitious, yet achievable goal.
- Annual capacity additions have more than doubled from 2015 to 2022, rising by about 11% per year on average. Just a slightly higher annual growth rate would put renewables on track to meet the 2030 capacity target,”
- It acknowledged that a higher annual growth rate would require much stronger policy push from governments.
International Solar Alliance has major role to play:
- To achieve this target, require the mobilisation of adequate financial resources and creation of opportunities like infrastructure, policy environment, skill development in countries with low penetration of energy access.
- As part of their climate action plans, about 135 countries have promised to create or enhance their renewable energy capacities, but as of now most of the new capacity addition is happening in a handful of large developing countries.
- India and China together account for more than 50% of global capacity additions in each of the last five years. In 2022, out of the 295 GW of additional capacity installed throughout the world, China alone added 140 GW, or nearly 48%.
- The tripling target cannot be achieved without the rapid growth in demand from other developing countries, mainly in Africa.
- The addition of the African Union in the G20 is expected to provide the right impetus for this.
- The multilateral body like the International Solar Alliance (ISA) set up by India has a crucial role to play. As Solar energy constitutes more than 50% of new renewable energy capacity additions every year and is pivotal to the growth of renewables.
- In 2022, out of the 295 GW of new renewable capacity created, 191 GW, or 65%, came from solar energy. The ISA was created specifically for the purpose of rapidly scaling up solar energy across the world, but it is still to realise its full potential.
Addressing the issue of financial mechanism for funding the renewable based projects
- The other big challenge is about the availability of financial resources. According to an IRENA outlook, investments of about 5.3 trillion USD would be required per year, till 2050, to enable the energy transition that will limit the global rise in temperatures to within 1.5 degree Celsius from pre-industrial times.
- But even if the tripling target is achieved by 2030, it alone would not be sufficient for the 1.5 degree Celsius goal.
- According to current projections, the greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 would exceed the 1.5-degree Celsius compatible levels by about 24 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
- Renewable energy, if tripled, would be able to avoid only 7 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent, or less than one third of what is required.
- However, G20 meeting skirted most of the contentious issues greater emission cuts, phase-out of fossil fuels, massive mobilisation of financial resources — and stuck to previously stated positions.
Conclusion:
- Therefore, the initiate taken by G20 nations to tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030 is significant steps towards the fight against the climate change, however international forum such as UNFCC under its CoP should push the limit of intended targets for countries along with providing the financial mechanism for developing nation.
Editorial 2: A privacy Report card
Recent Context:
- Recently, after over half a decade of deliberations and numerous iterations of India’s data protection law, both houses of Parliament passed the Digital Personal Data Protection Act
- It was outcome of K S Puttaswamy vs Union of India judgment, where the Supreme Court (SC) reaffirmed the right to privacy and stressed the need for a dedicated data protection law.
Significance of K S Puttaswamy vs Union of India judgment
- The Puttaswamy judgment formed the cornerstone of privacy jurisprudence in the country, holding that the right to privacy was an integral part of the fundamental rights under the Indian Constitution.
- Six separate opinions of the Court spelt out an expansive interpretation of the right to privacy.
- The Court construed privacy not as a narrow right against physical invasion, but as one that includes the body and mind, enables us to make free decisions, and is deeply tied to human dignity and autonomy.
- This conception of privacy recognises how central it is to our daily lives. Privacy enables us to make meaningful choices, for example concerning our sexual and reproductive health, choice of partners, and control over personal information
How has the right to privacy evolved in the SC?
- The SC has explored principles of autonomy, dignity, and identity in relation to privacy to strengthen the framework of constitutional rights.
- For instance, it decriminalised all sexual relations between consenting adults, including adults of the same sex, relying on the right to privacy linked with freedom of expression, equality, and non-discrimination.
- In multiple judgments, higher court reaffirmed the right of adults to marry across religious and caste lines, linking such rights to autonomy and self-recognition.
- It decriminalised adultery both based on protecting sexual autonomy and privacy and on the grounds of excessive state involvement in the married life of individuals.
- The Court also examined the role of privacy in the context of end-of-life care and reaffirmed the right to die with dignity. Since Puttaswamy, the SC has deliberated on and expanded the ambit of the right to privacy.
Right to privacy in digital domain
- It provided more nuanced versions of the right to privacy, especially in cases relating to the right to be forgotten, where individuals can ask for information about themselves to be removed from public records in some cases
- Privacy, among other grounds, has also been used as the basis for taking down intimate images of individuals where they were shared without consent.
- High courts have also relied on Puttaswamy to clarify the limitations on the powers of investigative authorities in relation to surveillance, search and seizure, and DNA testing.
However right to privacy is not absolute
- However, the right to privacy hasn’t always prevailed, and the SC has restricted this right in certain cases.
- For example, in a split verdict, the Court limited the right to privacy in public spaces and curtailed the right of women to wear a hijab in educational institutions. The case is now slated to be referred to a larger bench.
- Additionally, the Court has also decided to review its verdict in the Sabarimala case, which struck down the customary prohibition on women between the ages of 10-50 from entering the Sabarimala shrine.
Way forward
- Over the next few years, the Court will also be faced with deciding on other key issues that will shape the evolution of fundamental rights and freedoms in the country.
- For instance, it will have to decide on the ongoing case relating to the State’s alleged use of the Pegasus suite of spyware on Indian citizens, and will deliver its judgment on the right to marry for individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community.
- Contentious provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act are also likely to be challenged soon, and the Court will be called upon to interpret provisions of the law as it’s enforced.
Conclusion:
- Therefore, Puttaswamy, the Court has steadily built up jurisprudence that has expanded the scope of the right to privacy, and it should continue to do so to allow individuals to more effectively exercise their rights and freedoms in India.