Time to act

As the 27th edition of Conference of Parties (COP27) kickstarts from tomorrow, global leaders will again assemble in Sharm-El-Shaikh, Egypt, to review the fulfilment of earlier commitments, and even make new ones. Last year, COP26 achieved a grandstanding finish, with an impressive set of outcomes — or the decisions that participating countries agreed upon. However, of the nearly 200 countries that agreed to enhance their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) ahead of the COP27, merely two dozen have succeeded. And this is where the real problem lies — in not just contemplating, but acting upon the ideas. India's Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Bhupendra Yadav, sees the upcoming event as "a COP for action." How far will this optimism yield, is an altogether different question. Globally, climate action is falling off-track, and one of the main reasons is lack of financial resources. The issue of climate finance is expected to take precedence at COP27 as well, and rightly so. Developed nations have historically overexploited their share of carbon space to reach the stage where they are, and developing countries insist upon utilising their fair share on a substantial basis. On being asked to assist the developing nations financially, as part of their responsibility, developed nations made a significant pledge of USD 100 billion on an annual basis way back in 2009. More than a decade has passed, and climatic risks have become more intense today. Though this amount is not enough in today's time, the developed world is failing persistently even in facilitating the same. They need to understand that climate change is no less threatening than the pandemic we are struggling to emerge from. It requires the same degree of international collaboration. Besides the lack of political will, deficient climate financing is a major stumbling block in the path of effective climate action. The rift between the developed and the developing world on this issue doesn't augur well for the future of climate preservation. The need of the hour is to rope in sharpest minds with business acumen in the field of climate change. Unless and until climate action is made economically profitable and politically rewarding in some sense, chances of improvement will remain bleak. In the larger sense, it will have to be realigned with the national interests of nations. Climate status has significant linkages with governance matters pertaining to health and education. Governments can be nudged to cater to this link by focussing on climate change from a governance point of view. At the same time, there is an urge to promote innovation in the renewable sector to make it a cost-effective and attractive proposition. Furthermore, despite increased awareness globally, climate action is yet to gain the political weight it deserves. Since climate action is directly related to lives, livelihood and well-being of people in a major way, a laxity on this front should influence the making and breaking of governments. The populations that will force their governments to take sincere climate action will find themselves in a better place on the planet Earth. Appropriate interlinking of people's action, governments' proactiveness and international cooperation may yield somewhat desired results; even as we are already on the path to overshoot the acceptable threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, and are struggling to keep ourselves within the 2 degrees Celsius range. The laxity with which the human race is responding to the climate risk is alarming. Climate change has been exacerbating natural disasters like never before, and it is the developing world which is paying the heaviest price. COP26 had brought to fore some really critical action requirements in the field of deforestation, methane emissions, fossil use reduction etc. The reality is that these are not being worked upon properly. Action is needed to fructify these ideas. Given that COP26 was a landmark event in terms of "outcomes", COP27 will be more of a follow-up and lack the intensity that was there around COP26. This should, however, be seen as an opportunity that allows a space for retrospection, and for materialising ideas on the ground. To reiterate, the urgency of a robust climate action needs to be responded to, through exploration of the business and political side of the issue.