‘Lives and livelihoods of millions at stake’

The worst impact will be on monsoons, which would become more difficult to predict, and frequency of extreme monsoon events will increase, said Sunita Narain in an interview with Chetan Chauhan.

Updated on: Nov 30, 2009, 24:08:38 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan

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How would climate change impact India and what are your concerns?

The worst impact will be on monsoons, which would become more difficult to predict, and frequency of extreme monsoon events will increase. Given that it is related to lives and livelihoods of millions, any change in monsoon will have a major impact on agriculture.

What should India do domestically for climate change mitigation?

We should not commit mistakes of the western world —first pollute and then clean — while building cities. We should build cities around public transport and not cars.

Most of our building activities will start now with the economy growing. We should not look for glass buildings, which are not efficient. Look for local energy-efficient measures.

We have to provide affordable energy options considering India has the highest energy prices in the world. Solar (energy) is an option but its per unit cost if very high. Improving energy efficiency is a way to reduce generation cost, meaning affordable and clean electricity to people.

How can India take a global leadership role on climate change?

India is a leader of the developing world. It should campaign for the voice of the marginalised and victims of climate change like us (Indians). We should seek equitable agreement and effective agreement at Copenhagen. India should avoid taking the high table with polluters (rich countries). We are victims of climate change and are willing to change. Therefore, we have to put pressure on the north (Europe and US) to take effective emission cuts and implement them seriously. That will be a real leadership role.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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