February 12, 2021

A thundering wake-up call for climate change deniers

topic:	Climate Change
located:	Pakistan, India
editor:	Shadi Khan Saif

Mother Nature rang yet another thundering wake-up call in India this week for climate change deniers and polluters in the region.

With many precious lives lost to the deadly glacier lake burst in the northern Uttarakhand state, the incident has not only exposed misplaced priorities of the government in India, but has also sent shockwaves across the entire region. 

In an impulsive quest for development, governments in South Asia have so far been more or less in denial or passive indifference when it comes to policies and actions on climate and environment. On the global level, it is true the developed countries in the west and India’s powerful regional neighbors, such as China and Japan, have contributed much more to CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. Yet, it does not mean countries like Pakistan and India can continue to blindly seek growth at such a heavy price.

Despite signing the Paris Agreement in 2015, India has not moved in terms of policy-making to get away from coal-powered energy plants. In fact, it is believed to be rigorously pursuing plans to add more power to the national grid by burning more coal with the proposed opening of dozens of more coal pits.

Same is the case in neighboring Pakistan. 

At a recent UN Conference on Climate Change in Germany, officials from Pakistan announced the country has begun importing more liquefied natural gas in order to reduce its reliance on burning coal and oil for electricity. 

It is, however, likely that Pakistan’s emissions will grow in the coming decades considering a number of mega projects underway there, particularly the energy related projects conceived in line with the multi-billion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CEPC). With Chinese financial and technical assistance, Pakistan is all set to develop at least three more nuclear power plants and one massive 1,320MW coal power plant in the Thar Desert area.

Interestingly enough, Thar is a classic example of misplaced priorities by the government of Pakistan. The government and corporate circles seem more focused on tapping into the 175 billion tons of coal over 9,000 square kilometres here despite the fact that Thar has high solar irradiance, receiving up to 5KWh per square meter a day. This is comparable to parts of the Arabian Peninsula, where solar is considered a highly favourable source of electricity.

One of the reasons why such double-standards in terms of climate conservation on the state level does not get checked in these countries is that the people remain kept in the dark on this subject, as politics in general are dominated by tribal, religions and regional identities and largely neglect more genuine and pressing issues, such as climate change.

It is likely to change if the subject of climate change becomes relevant around the time of voting and government making. 

Image by Priyambada Nath.

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