When Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted about a talkathon on climate change on Friday morning, he was not just promoting an online event; he was actually making a strong political statement — this time for an international audience.
Criticised by many international bodies for cracking down on NGOs such as Greenpeace, the government of India decided to open itself to the public, with ministers going on the offensive and taking questions on India’s position on climate change.
Participating in a talkathon organised by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Friday, the Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Prakash Javdekar and Coal, Power and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal took live questions via Twitter at the event that was broadcast live on Doordarshan.
Effectively, this means the government is sending out a strong message to the international community that it has nothing to hide on the issue of climate change and that it is not averse to engaging with anyone. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi departs for Paris to join the heads of over 150 nations in climate change negotiations, hundreds of environmental NGOs and activists are demanding a global deal that clears the road for 100 percent clean energy and puts an end to carbon emission in the course of the century.
The NDA government has itself launched many initiatives — including a Climate Train — to spread awareness about climate change but the telethon was the first time it took questions from the public on a live forum.
NGOs chip in
Many international NGOs are now looking to make the most of this event. Avaaz, that is part of the coalition of NGOs organising close to 2,000 climate change events worldwide ahead of the COP21 that begins on Monday, has asked its volunteers to actively participate in the Talkathon.
“We welcome the fact that the government is opening itself up to public engagement on the issue of climate and we are asking Avaaz members in India to actively participate, so the government can see the broad public support for clean energy.” says Alaphia Zoyab, senior campaigner at Avaaz.
“Already 13 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities are in India. India’s kids in these pollution hot spots have lower lung capacity than kids elsewhere; Mumbai and Kolkata could be the worst impacted due to extreme weather events like floods and the government is already spending nearly 2.6 percent of its GDP on tackling climate change. So while India wants to see more action from the historical polluters — the developed countries — we also want to remind PM Modi that as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate impacts, switching to 100 percent clean (energy) is in India’s own interests too,” she adds.
Solar’s the way to go
In fact, the tone for Paris has already been set by the exchanges between Javadekar and US Secretary of State John Kerry, after the latter described India as being a challenge during the negotiations in Paris. Javadekar responded to the comment by reiterating India’s stand.
“It is in a way unfair to say that India will be a challenge. The US is our great friend and strategic partner. His [Kerry’s] comment is unwarranted and unfair. The attitude of some of the developed countries is the challenge for the Paris conclusion.”
The event comes at a time when PM Modi is looking to be positioned as a solar hero, with his high profile initiative of creating a solar alliance of more than 100 countries. The alliance, to be named the International Agency for Solar Policy and Application (InSPA), is aimed at a host of African nations and others located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
The initiative comes against the backdrop of India’s recent INDC submission where it committed to having 40 percent of its energy mix come from alternative sources by 2030. It has also targeted an ambitious 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022.
Over the course of this weekend and the coming week, history will hopefully be created with a global consensus on how to tackle climate change.