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  • Digital India Initiatives

    [pib] Digital India Land Record Modernization Program

    17 November 2021 | PIB | Governance
    Mains Paper 2: Government Scheme/Policies

    Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj has recently held a workshop on Digital India Land Record Modernization Programme (DILRMP).

    About DILRMP

    • The DILRMP was previously known as the National Land Record Modernization Programme (NLRMP).
    • It was launched in 2008 with the purpose to digitize and modernizing land records and developing a centralized land record management system.
    • The DILRMP is the amalgamation of two projects:
    1. Computerization of Land Records (CLR)
    2. Strengthening of Revenue Administration and Updating of Land Records (SRA & ULR)
    • The district will be taken as the unit of implementation, where all activities under the programme will converge.

    Components of DILRMP

    The DILRMP has 3 major components

    1. Computerization of land record
    2. Survey/re-survey
    3. Computerization of Registration

    Key features: Unique Land Parcel Identification Numbers

    • It is just like the Aadhar Number of land parcels.
    • A unique ID based on Geo-coordinates of the parcels is generated and assigned to the plots.
    • This has been introduced to share the computerized digital land record data among different States/Sectors and a uniform system of assigning a unique ID to the land parcel across the country.

    Benefits offered

    The citizen is expected to benefit from DILRMP in one or more of the following ways;

    • Real-time land ownership records will be available to the citizen
    • Property owners will have free access to their records without any compromise in regard to the confidentiality of the information
    • Abolition of stamp papers and payment of stamp duty and registration fees through banks, etc. will also reduce interface with the Registration machinery
    • These records will be tamper-proof
    • This method will permit e-linkages to credit facilities

     

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India – EU

    The EU’s role in the Indo-Pacific

    16 November 2021 | op-ed snap | International Relations
    Mains Paper 2: GS2-18.Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

    Context

    Speedy development of the Quad comprising Australia, Japan, India and the U.S.; the emergence of AUKUS comprising Australia, the U.K. and the U.S.; and other alignments raise the question: where does Europe stand in relation to this churning?

    Significance of EU’s Indo-Pacific strategy

    • Europe’s Asia connect is old, strong and multi-layered.
    • Since 2018, countries such as France, the Netherlands, Germany and the U.K. announced their specific policies towards the Indo-Pacific.
    • The announcement by the Council of the European Union of its initial policy conclusions in April, followed by the unveiling of the EU strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific on September 16, are notable.
    • Focus on security and development: The policy document also says cooperation will be strengthened in sustainable and inclusive prosperity, green transition, ocean governance, digital governance and partnerships, connectivity, security and defence, and human security.

    Way forward for EU

    • Support France: The EU’s security and defence capabilities are quite limited, as compared to the U.S. and China.
    • To obviate an imbalance in favour of economic links, EU will need to give adequate space and support to France which has sizeable assets and linkages with the Indo-Pacific.
    • Coordination with UK: EU also must forge strategic coordination with the U.K. as the latter prepares to expand its role in Asia as part of its ‘Global Britain’ strategy.
    • Leverage economic power: As a major economic power, the EU has an excellent chance of success in its trade negotiations with Australia, Indonesia and New Zealand; economic partnership agreement with the East African Community; and in forging fisheries agreements and green alliances.
    • To achieve all this and more, EU must increase its readiness to share its financial resources and new technologies with partners.
    • Internally coordinated approach:Many states view China as a great economic opportunity, but others are acutely conscious of the full contours of the China challenge.
    • Russia next door is the more traditional threat. It is increasingly on China’s side.
    • Hence, the EU should find it easy to cooperate with the Quad.
    • AUKUS, endeavours by a part of the western alliance to bolster naval and technological facilities to deal with China should be welcome.

    Way forward for India

    • India’s pivotal position in the region necessitates a closer India-EU partnership.
    • Early conclusion of an ambitious and comprehensive trade agreement and a standalone investment protection agreement will be major steps.
    • Cooperation in Industry 4.0 technologies is desirable.
    • Consolidating and upgrading defence ties with France, Germany and the U.K. should also remain a significant priority.

    Conclusion

    The EU can create a vantage position for itself in the Indo-Pacific by being more candid with itself, more assertive with China, and more cooperative with India.

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-Middle East

    What the rise of pan-Turkism means for India

    16 November 2021 | op-ed snap | International Relations
    Mains Paper 2: GS2-18.Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

    Context

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been playing internationalist card for national benefit. India, which has been worried about Erdogan’s Islamist politics, must now begin to pay attention to another political idea from the Turkish president — promoting pan-Turkism.

    Impact of political ideas on global politics

    • Internationalism based on religion, region or secular ideologies has always run headlong into resistance from sectarianism and nationalism.
    • Yet, these ideas have a profound impact on global politics.
    • Calls for regionalism and internationalism as well as religious and ethnic solidarity often end up as instruments for the pursuit of national interest.

    The rise of pan-Turkism

    • Foundation of OTS: The international symbol of solidarity among peoples of Turkic ethnicity has been the Council of Turkic States, formed in 2009 by Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
    •  At a summit of the Council’s leaders last week in Istanbul, it was announced that the forum has been elevated to an “Organisation of Turkic States”.
    • Hungary, which has a long history of association with Turkic people, and Turkmenistan have observer status.
    •  At least a dozen other countries have apparently shown interest in getting observer status.
    • Implications: There is no escaping the fact that Turkey is determined to rewrite the geopolitics of Eurasia.
    • The rise of pan-Turkism is bound to have important consequences for Afghanistan, the Caucasus, Central Asia and, more broadly, India’s Eurasian neighbourhood.

    Rise of Turkey in Central Asia

    • Soft power initiatives: Over the last three decades, a number of soft power initiatives — in education, culture, and religion — have raised Turkey’s profile in Central Asia and generated new bonds with the region’s elites.
    • Military power: It is in the domains of hard power — commercial and military — that Turkey’s progress has been impressive.
    • Turkey has stunned much of the world with its military power projection into the region.
    • That Kazakhstan, a member of the Russia-led regional security bloc, is moving towards strategic cooperation with Turkey, a member of US-led NATO, points to the thickening pan-Turkic bonds in a rapidly changing regional order.
    • The dominance of economy and trade: Nearly 5,000 Turkish companies work in Central Asia. Turkish annual trade with the region is around $10 billion.
    • This could change as Turkey strengthens connectivity with Central Asia through the Caucasus.
    • For the Central Asian states, living under the shadow of Chinese economic power and Russian military power, Turkey offers a chance for economic diversification and greater strategic autonomy.
    • Connectivity: Turkey has also made impressive progress in building transportation corridors to Central Asia and beyond, to China, Georgia and Azerbaijan.
    • The so-called Lapis Lazuli Corridor now connects Turkey to Afghanistan via Turkmenistan.

    What should be India’s approach towards Turkey?

    • Pan-Turkism is a good reason for India to explore a more purposeful engagement with Turkey.
    • Issues: There is no denying that the current differences between Delhi and Ankara over Kashmir, Pakistan and Afghanistan are real and serious.
    • Need for dialogue: The current political divergence only reinforces the case for a sustained dialogue between the two governments and the strategic communities of the two countries.
    • Lessons for India: Turkey’s own geopolitics offers valuable lessons on how to deal with Ankara.
    • That Turkey is a NATO member has not stopped Erdogan from a strategic liaison with Russian.
    • Purchase of advanced weapons like S-400 missiles from Moscow  does not stop Erdogan from meddling in Russia’s Central Asian backyard.
    • Criticism of China’s repression of Turkic Uighurs in Xinjiang — that was once called “Eastern Turkestan” — goes hand-in-hand with deep economic collaboration with Beijing.
    • What does this policy tell India? One, Erdogan’s enduring enthusiasm for Pakistan does not preclude Turkey from doing business — economic and strategic — with India.
    • Limiting Turkish hegemony: Erdogan’s ambitions have offended many countries in Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Caucasus.
    • Many of them are eager to expand strategic cooperation with India in limiting Turkish hegemony.
    • This opens a range of new opportunities for Indian foreign and security policy in Eurasia.
    • Imperative to engage: Sceptics will point to the fact that Erdogan’s time is running out.
    • That does not, however, alter the Indian imperative to engage with Turkey.

    Consider the question “Turkey’s influence in Eurasian region is expanding. In this context examine the issues that adds friction between India and Turkey and suggest the approach India should adopt in dealing with Turkey.”

    Conclusion

    Independent India has struggled to develop good relations with Turkey over the decades. A hard-headed approach in Delhi today, however, might open new possibilities with Ankara and in Turkey’s Eurasian periphery.

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  • Digital India Initiatives

    Central bank digital currency (CBDC)

    16 November 2021 | op-ed snap | Economics
    Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

    Context

    Recently, Nigeria joined the Bahamas and five islands in the East Caribbean as the only economies to have introduced central bank digital currency (CBDC). This is a shortlist, but one that is likely to be supplemented.

    Benefits of CBDC

    • Desire to make domestic payments systems and cross-border remittances cheaper, faster and more efficient, and deepen financial inclusion, represent key areas of priority for most other emerging market and development economies (EMDEs).
    • Between 2019 and 2021, the last three surveys conducted by the Bank for International Settlements showed that the primary drivers for central banks of EMDEs to study CBDCs were domestic payments efficiency, financial inclusion and payments safety.

    Design features of CBDCs

    • In theory, the potential of CBDCs are only limited by their design and the capabilities of the central bank issuing it, but their appropriateness and form also depend on the state of the domestic banking and payments industry.
    • Ultimately, CBDCs must be seen as a means to an end.
    • A particular CBDC could, for example, be account-based or tokenised, may be distributed directly by the central bank or through intermediaries, may be interest-bearing (even the possibility of a negative interest has been considered), may be programmable, may offer limited pseudonymity to its holders (similar to, but not to the extent of, cash) and so on.
    • Whether it may be one or the other depends on what its country requires it to be.

    Challenges

    • An economy that adopts an interest-bearing CBDC could make the interest rate on CBDCs the main tool of monetary policy transmission domestically (assuming a high degree of substitution of fiat and fiat-like currency).
    • On the other hand, as former RBI Governor D Subbarao recently warned, rendering an Indian CBDC as an interest-bearing instrument could pose an existential threat to the banking system by eroding its critical role as intermediaries in the economy.
    • If CBDCs compete with bank deposits and facilitate a reduction of bank-held deposits, banks stand to lose out on an important and stable source of funding.
    • Banks may respond by increasing deposit rates, but this would necessitate a higher lending rate to preserve margins, and dampen lending activities.
    • The resultant shrinking of balance sheets will lead to a more pronounced disintermediation role for financial institutions, which could have long-term effects on financial stability, and facilitate easier bank runs.
    • The introduction of CBDCs would require central banks to maintain much larger balance sheets, even in non-crisis times.
    • They would need to replace the lost funding (because of migration of deposits) by lending potentially huge sums to financial institutions, while purchasing correspondingly huge amounts of government and possibly private securities.
    • CBDCs could also have implications for the state from seigniorage as the cost of printing, storing, transporting and distributing currency can be reduced.

    Conclusion

    Recent comments by RBI officials have focussed on the desirability of introducing CBDCs. But the path to a “Digital Rupee” is not clear.

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  • Digital India Initiatives

    Assessing the digital gap and learning losses

    16 November 2021 | DOMR | Governance
    Mains Paper 2: GS2-13.Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

    A recent survey released seeks to analyze the COVID-impact on digital connectivity in the context of healthcare, education, and work.

    About the Survey

    • LIRNEasia, an Asia Pacific think tank focussed on digital policy, tied up with the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).
    • They took part in a global study funded by the Canada’s International Development Centre to assess the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 .
    • They sought to analyse access to services, with a focus on digital technologies in healthcare, education and work.

    Highlights of the Survey:

    [A] Internet Access and Use

    (1) Internet users

    • The survey found that 47% of the population are Internet users, a significant jump from the 19% who were identified as Internet users in late 2017.
    • At least 5 crores have already become new Internet users in 2021.

    (2) Gender and internet

    • Men still use the Internet more than women.
    • There is a 37% gender gap among users, although this is half of the 57% gap present four years ago.

    (3) Rural-urban Gap

    • The rural-urban gap has dropped from 48% in 2017 to just 20% now as more rural residents come online.

    (4) Education

    • Among those with college education, 89% are Internet users, compared to 60% of those who completed secondary school.
    • Only 23% of those who dropped out of school after Class 8, and 9% of those without any education, are able to use the Internet.

    Major inferences drawn

    • Among non-users, lack of awareness is still the biggest hurdle.
    • The percentage of non-users who said they do not know what the Internet is dropped from 82% to 49% over the last four years.
    • Increasingly, lack of access to devices and lack of skills are the reason why people do not go online.

    Loopholes in Remote Education

    • 80% of school-age children in the country had no access to remote education at all during the 18 months of lockdown.
    • This happened even though 64% of households actually had Internet
    • Situation was worse for those homes without Internet connections, where only 8% of children received any sort of remote education.

    [B] Internet connectivity

    • Apart from not having any devices, poor 3G/4G signal and high data cost were listed as the biggest hurdles.
    • Even among the 20% who received education, only half had access to live online classes which required a good Internet connection and exclusive use of a device.
    • Most depended on recorded lessons and WhatsApp messages which could be sent to a parent’s phone and downloaded at leisure.
    • Others were able to have more direct contact with teachers via phone calls or physical visits.

    Worst consequences: Dropouts

    • Nationwide, 38% of households said at least one child had dropped out of school completely due to COVID-19.
    • The situation was significantly worse among those from lower socio-economic classes, or where the head of the household had lower education levels.

    [C] Internet access and healthcare

    • About 15% required healthcare access for non-COVID related purposes during the most severe national and State lockdown.
    • Of the 14% who required ongoing treatment for chronic conditions, over a third missed at least one appointment due to the lockdown.
    • Telemedicine and online doctor consultations surged during these times, but only 38% said they were able to access such services.
    • With regard to COVID-19, about 40% of respondents depended on television channels for advice as their most trusted source.

     

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  • The Crisis In The Middle East

    Crisis at the Belarus-Poland Border

    16 November 2021 | | International Relations
    Mains Paper 2: GS2-18.Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

    Thousands of migrants have flocked to Belarus’ border with Poland, hoping to get to Western Europe.

    Background of the crisis

    • Belarus was rocked by months of massive protests following the August 2020 election that gave authoritarian President Lukashenko a sixth term in office.
    • The opposition and the West rejected the result.
    • Belarusian authorities responded to the demonstrations with a fierce crackdown that saw more than 35,000 people arrested and thousands beaten by police.
    • The European Union and the US reacted by imposing sanctions on Lukashenko’s government.

    Immediate trigger

    • The restrictions were toughened after an incident when a passenger jet flying from Greece to Lithuania was diverted by Belarus to Minsk, where authorities arrested a dissident journalist.
    • The EU called it air piracy and barred Belarusian carriers from its skies.
    • It cut imports of the country’s top commodities, including petroleum products and potash, an ingredient in fertilizer.

    Infused by migration

    • The EU sanctions deprived Lukashenko government of funds needed to contain flows of migrants.
    • Planes carrying migrants from Iraq, Syria and other countries began arriving in Belarus, and they soon headed for the borders with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

    Rising tensions

    • Belarus is estimated to host between 5,000 and 20,000 migrants from the Middle East and Africa.
    • Many have run out of money and grown increasingly desperate as the winter approaches.
    • Belarusian residents are uneasy about their presence, raising pressure on the authorities to act.

    Reservations by EU

    • The EU accused Lukashenko of using the migrants as pawns in a “hybrid attack” against the 27-nation bloc in retaliation for the sanctions.
    • Lukashenko denies the flow of migrants and said the EU is violating migrants’ rights by denying them safe passage.

    What has been the response by EU countries?

    • Lithuania introduced a state of emergency to deal with small groups of migrants and strengthen its border with Belarus.
    • It set up tent camps to accommodate the growing number of migrants.
    • Polish authorities prevented hundreds of attempts by migrants to cross reporting many deaths.
    • The EU has made a strong show of solidarity with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

    What is Russia’s role?

    • Belarus has received strong support from its main ally, Russia, which has helped rise Lukashenko’s government with loans and political support.
    • Russia considers the migrant flows resulting from the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Western-backed Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa.
    • It challenged the EU to offer financial assistance to Belarus to deal with the influx.
    • At the same time, the Kremlin angrily rejected Poland’s claim that Russia bears responsibility for the crisis.

     

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  • Nuclear Diplomacy and Disarmament

    Iran invites UN nuclear body chief to Tehran for talks

    16 November 2021 | IOCRPrelims Only | International Relations
    Mains Paper 2: GS2-20.Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.

    Iran has invited the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for talks after the UN official expressed concern over a lack of contact with Iranian authorities.

    What is IAEA?

    • The IAEA is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons.
    • As the preeminent nuclear watchdog under the UN, the IAEA is entrusted with the task of upholding the principles of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1970.
    • It was established as an autonomous organization on July 29, 1957, at the height of the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
    • Though established independently of the UN through its own international treaty, the agency reports to both the UN General Assembly and the UNSC.

    IAEA Missions

    The IAEA is generally described as having three main missions:

    • Peaceful uses: Promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy by its member states,
    • Safeguards: Implementing safeguards to verify that nuclear energy is not used for military purposes, and
    • Nuclear safety: Promoting high standards for nuclear safety

    What are its safeguards?

    • Safeguards are activities by which the IAEA can verify that a State is living up to its international commitments not to use nuclear programs for nuclear weapons purposes.
    • Safeguards are based on assessments of the correctness and completeness of a State’s declared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities.
    • Verification measures include on-site inspections, visits, and ongoing monitoring and evaluation.

    Basically, two sets of measures are carried out in accordance with the type of safeguards agreements in force with a State.

    1. Verifying state reports of declared nuclear material and activities.
    2. Verifying the non-diversion of declared nuclear material and providing assurances as to the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in a State.

    Try this question from CSP 2020:

    Q.In India, why are some nuclear reactors kept under “IAEA Safeguards” while others are not?

    (a) Some use Uranium and others use thorium.

    (b) Some use imported uranium and others use domestic supplies.

    (c) Some are operated by foreign enterprises and others are operated by domestic enterprises.

    (d) Some are State- owned and others are privately-owned.

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”u1f17yedvj” question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

     

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    Back2Basics: Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

    • The NPT is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
    • The Treaty represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon States.
    • Opened for signature in 1968, the Treaty entered into force in 1970.
    • India is one of the only five countries that either did not sign the NPT or signed but withdrew, thus becoming part of a list that includes Pakistan, Israel, North Korea, and South Sudan.
    • India always considered the NPT as discriminatory and had refused to sign it.

     

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-Pakistan

    Reopening of the Kartarpur Corridor Project

    16 November 2021 | Prelims Only | International Relations
    Mains Paper 2: India & Its Neighborhood – Relations

    The government is considering reopening the Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara corridor to Pakistan this week for Gurpurab or Prakash Parv.

    Kartarpur Corridor

    • The Kartarpur corridor connects the Darbar Sahib Gurdwara in Narowal district of Pakistan with the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in India’s Punjab province.
    • The name Kartarpur means “Place of God”.
    • The first guru of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, founded Kartarpur in 1504 AD on the right bank of the Ravi River.

    Inception of the project

    • The Kartarpur Corridor was first proposed in early 1999 by then PMs Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif as part of the Delhi–Lahore Bus diplomacy.
    • The project is now compared to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, as it could help in easing tensions between the two countries.

    Conditions for the pilgrimage (from Indian side)

    • Only Indians resident or overseas citizens can travel by corridor, Pakistanis cannot.
    • Children or aged persons of all ages can register to apply.
    • After 15 days of travel by corridor another registration can be done for second visit.
    • Registration can only be done online at a mentioned website of Indian Government

    About Guru Nanak

    • Guru Nanak Dev (1469-1539) also referred to as Baba Nanak was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus.
    • He advocated the ‘Nirguna’ form of Bhakti. He rejected sacrifices, ritual baths, image worship, austerities and the scriptures of both Hindus and Muslims.
    • He appointed one of his disciples, Angad, to succeed him as the preceptor (guru), and this practice was followed for nearly 200 years.
    • The fifth preceptor, Guru Arjan, compiled his hymns along with those of his four successors and also other religious poets, like Baba Farid, Ravidas, and Kabir, in the Adi Granth Sahib.

     

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  • Cyber Security – CERTs, Policy, etc

    Creating safe digital spaces

    15 November 2021 | op-ed snap | Science and Technology
    Mains Paper 3: Social Media Networks & Internal Security

    Context

    Various reports have indicated increased incidence of cyberbullying and online child sexual exploitation by adults.

    Tackling cyberbullying

    • School closures as a response to the COVID-19 lockdowns have led to an unprecedented rise in unsupervised screen time for children and young people, which in turn exposed them to a greater risk of online violence.
    • In India, an estimated 71 million children aged 5-11 years access the Internet on the devices of their family members, constituting about 14% of the country’s active Internet user base of over 500 million
    • There is growing scientific evidence which suggests that cyberbullying has negative consequences on the education, health and well-being of children and young people.
    • Published in 2019 and drawing on data from 144 countries, UNESCO’s report ‘Behind the numbers: Ending school violence and bullying’ highlighted the extent of the problem, with almost one in three students worldwide reporting being bullied at least once in the preceding month.
    • Therefore, cyberbullying prevention interventions should aim at tackling all types of bullying and victimisation experiences at the same time, as opposed to each in silo.

    Cyberbullying prevention interventions

    • Although online violence is not limited to school premises, the education system plays a crucial role in addressing online safety.
    • To prevent and counter cyberbullying, the information booklet brought out by UNESCO in partnership with NCERT on Safe Online Learning in Times of COVID-19 can be a useful reference.
    • Effective interventions also require gender-sensitive and targeted approaches that respond to needs of learners who are most likely to be the victims of online violence.
    • Concerted efforts must be made to provide children and young people with the knowledge and skills to identify online violence so that they can protect themselves from its different forms, whether perpetrated by peers or adults.
    • Teachers also play a critical role by teaching students about online safety, and thus supporting parental involvement.

    Conclusion

    It is imperative that digital and social media platforms are free of cyberbullying, if learners have to access quality education. More importantly, confidential reporting and redress services must be established.

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  • Climate Change Negotiations – UNFCCC, COP, Other Conventions and Protocols

    Why Glasgow Climate Pact disappoints

    15 November 2021 | op-ed snap | Environment
    Mains Paper 3: GS3-18.Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.

    Context

    The Glasgow Climate Pact was adopted on Saturday and, as was to be expected, it is a mixed bag of modest achievements and disappointed expectations.

    Transition away from fossil fuel

    • The Pact is the first clear recognition of the need to transition away from fossil fuels, though the focus was on giving up coal-based power altogether.
    • India introduced an amendment at the last moment to replace this phrase with “phase down” and this played negatively with both the advanced as well as a large constituency of developing countries.
    • This amendment reportedly came as a result of consultations among India, China, the UK and the US.
    • As the largest producer and consumer of coal and coal-based thermal power, it is understandable that China would prefer a gradual reduction rather than total elimination.
    • India may have had similar concerns.

    Recognition of Adaptation

    • There is a welcome recognition of the importance of Adaptation and there is a commitment to double the current finance available for this to developing countries.
    • Since this amount is currently only $15 billion, doubling will mean $ 30 billion.
    • This remains grossly inadequate.
    • According to UNEP, adaptation costs for developing countries are currently estimated at $70 billion annually and will rise to an estimated $130-300 billion annually by 2030.
    • A start is being made in formulating an adaptation plan and this puts the issue firmly on the Climate agenda, balancing the overwhelming focus hitherto on mitigation.

    Disappointment on the issue of finance

    • The Paris Agreement target of $100 billion per annum between 2005-2020 was never met with the shortfall being more than half, according to some calculations.
    • There is now a renewed commitment to delivering on this pledge in the 2020-2025 period and there is a promise of an enhanced flow thereafter.
    • But in a post-pandemic global economic slowdown, it is unlikely these promises will be met.
    • In any event, it is unlikely that India will get even a small slice of the pie.
    • The same applies to the issue of compensation for loss and damage for developing countries who have suffered as a result of climate change for which they have not been responsible.

    Initiatives on methane and deforestation

    • Two important plurilateral outcomes could potentially develop into more substantial measures.
    • The most important is an agreement among 100 countries to cut methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.
    • India is not a part of this group.
    • Cutting methane emissions, which is generated mainly by livestock, is certainly useful but there is a much bigger methane emergency around the corner as the earth’s permafrost areas in Siberia, Greenland and the Arctic littoral begin to melt due to global warming that has already taken place and will continue to take place in the coming years.
    • Another group of 100 countries has agreed to begin to reverse deforestation by 2030.
    • India did not join the group due to concerns over a clause on possible trade measures related to forest products.

    Implications of US-China Joint Declaration on Climate Change for India

    • Declaration was a departure for China, which had held that bilateral cooperation on climate change could not be insulated from other aspects of their relations.
    • The declaration implies a shift in China’s hardline position.
    • It appears both countries are moving towards a less confrontational, more cooperative relationship overall.
    • This will have geopolitical implications, including for India, which may find its room for manoeuvre shrinking.

    Conclusion

    As in the past, the can has been kicked down the road, except that the climate road is fast approaching a dead-end. What provides a glimmer of light is the incredible and passionate advocacy of urgent action by young people across the world. This is putting enormous pressure on governments and leaders and if sustained, may become irresistible.

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