US decision to pull out from Paris deal may be shocking, but India can manage well
The 45th President of the US, Donald Trump, has made some curious statements over the past few days. He kept the entire Washington DC Press corps awake all night wondering what ‘covfefe' meant. And now, he has decided that since he was elected by the people of Pittsburgh rather than the people of Paris, he will withdraw the US from commitments that the Obama Administration made on the climate change front. This decision and the analogy used to explain it is either a display of extreme naivete or one taken by an extremely cynical, smart politician to sell the idea to his core audience. Because the Paris Accords were just signed in Paris; they could have been signed in Copenhagen or Cancun, where previous climate talks took place. We still do not know whether President Donald Trump is a ‘climate change denier'. However, despite some strong advocates against the concept of man-made climate change, it has to be admitted that overwhelming scientific evidence shows that human activity, particularly industrial activity, has taken a dramatic toll on the environment over the past century. That has also been evident in India with increased extreme weather events — from the dramatic heatwaves of the past few years to an increase in the rate of extreme flooding events. Overall temperatures are the highest that they have ever been. And given India's population, a large number of which still live under conditions of extreme poverty, a huge number of people will be impacted through climate change — whether this is through the lack of water, desertification of land or rising sea levels. Even though successive Indian Governments have argued that the average Indian has a lower carbon footprint, indeed a carbon footprint less than a tenth of that of an average resident of the US, the Narendra Modi Government was brave enough to commit this country towards emissions targets. This was despite the fact that India needs to dramatically increase its energy spend. However, through some innovative policy decisions, such as the ‘Ujjwala' scheme of providing liquid petroleum gas cylinders to poorer sections of society with over 20 million new connections, there has been a reduction in burning of wood and cowdung patties.
Indeed, President Trump's decision could be an opportunity for India in particular to drive technological and manufacturing advancements in green, energy-efficient technologies as the US raises the white flag. If Trump's decision is to ‘save' American jobs, it might have the opposite impact, as America will lose jobs in research and manufacturing of energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly technologies, and if Modi plays this well, this is a godsend for Indian industry. However, to be fair, American industry, including America's oil majors, have come out strongly against Trump's decision. Also, even though America withdrawing from the Paris agreements will take time, most American multinationals have seen the ‘green' light and will not stop developing environmentally-friendly products. However, President Trump's isolationist policies can only harm the US and the rest of the world.