“The penguins are on thin ice, and so are we”
Climate change refers to long-term effects on the weather conditions and temperature of the earth. Climate has changed so much in the previous years, that now it poses a threat to the entire human population. Again, its major cause is the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases act as a storage for the heat received by the sun. But with industrialization, the proportion of these gases in the atmosphere was disturbed, hence more heat gets captured, making the earth even warmer than normal. This extra heat hence becomes a reason for floods, cyclones, erratic rainfalls, etc.
Now, Climate action is stepped-up efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-induced impacts, including climate-related hazards in all countries.
VONG (Voice of New Generation) is an initiative that aims at fighting problems like these by inspiring the youth and motivating them to raise questions for the betterment of the world. We here inspire them to become voices of the world. For the problem at hand, i.e., Climate change, VONG SDG Café conducted an impactful discussion via the Zoom platform. The guest speaker for the discussion was Ms. Aditi Muradia, a Master’s student studying Climate science and policy at the TERI School of advanced studies. The discussion aimed at gaining a better understanding of the problem and mitigation of the same. A few questions were asked by the host to the speaker. Here’s a summary of the discussion on “Climate Action”
What exactly is meant by Climate action?
Climate action comprises the Mitigation of climate change, adaptation to climate change, and reduction of vulnerability of people. Mitigation of climate change means finding alternatives to the factors that are causing climate change in the first place, hence, ceasing the change. Adaptation, as the word suggests, is finding ways and means to survive in the present conditions. And the reduction of vulnerability is finding means to help the people who are most exposed to the given conditions, making them less vulnerable to the same.
Why is Climate change considered a big threat?
People already migrate because of a variety of reasons including natural disasters, wars, etc. But imagine if someone has to migrate because of climate change. The seriousness of the issue can be very well made out by the fact that climate change can be equivalent to a natural disaster that people are bound to migrate. Moreover, keeping the vulnerability factor in mind, it can be fatal to all those people who are in direct, un-shaded contact with climate change.
Is India a climatically just country?
No, India is not a climatically just country. A climatically just country has to take sufficient and visible climate action. Now, as far as India is concerned, the focus does not shift from mitigation and we tend to forget the adaptation and reduction of vulnerability part of climate action. Moreover, most of the experts and data suggest that the strategies in India, go as far as the year 2070, but again, most of the places won’t even survive till we hit that year milestone. India’s ignorance can be very well figured out by the SAPCC standards (State action plan for climate change). These action plans are not only below standards but are outdated too.
How can we become climatically just?
Stronger Climate action strategies and more efficient Research and development programs in the same area can prove to be a good path toward action against climate change. The resources India has in the same area are relatively less. There are very less educational institutions that even consider environmental science an important course. Hence, making the youth available with the learning opportunities can be a good step toward climate action; as again, “The youth is the future”. Moreover, training the grass root levels of the political hierarchy, i.e., Municipalities and Panchayats can ensure an upward movement of actions.
Initiatives are taken by India towards the Paris agreement?
The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016. Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate-neutral world by mid-century.
For this very purpose, India has taken several initiatives which include, but are not limited to, Reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions by 30-35% of GDP by 2030. Also, 40 percent of power is generated by renewable sources. The provision of subsidies for renewable sources of energy is also an initiative toward the objective. Also, additional carbon sinks have been promised by the government to absorb 2.5-3 Billion tonnes of Carbon Dioxide.
This April we experienced the hottest summer in about 122 years. Does this affect our life expectancy?
Yes, this does affect our life expectancy. For the people who are the most vulnerable and are in direct contact with climate change, this can prove fatal. Now, that the others have ways to adapt to this condition, somewhere they are supposed to get in direct or indirect contact with climate change, and hence, this is bound to affect their life expectancy too.
Microclimate change that our cities have faced and what threat do they pose?
This can be very well explained by the Urban heat island effect. An urban heat island is a metropolitan area that is warmer than its surroundings.
This is caused by surface particles like asphalt and concrete that basically trap heat and then radiate it to its surroundings throughout, making the area comparatively hotter.
The threats that these poses include infrastructural damage and migration of fauna to the surrounding areas or from surrounding areas into the metropolitan bubble.
To summarize and conclude the discussion “What good is a house, if you don’t have a tolerable planet to put it on?”
Article By: Aryan Anand – VONGLE, Orion Square
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