India is ranked among the most polluted and most unsafe countries in the world. In a classic example of the pot calling the kettle black, much of the developed world – the West to be precise, has been pressuring India to abandon its development and pursue a mindless carbon-neutrality policy. Climate change is a phenomenon whose responsibility lies solely with the developed world. While the developing countries are still in the process of achieving the full effect of their respective industrial revolutions, developed nations have burnt their fair share of fossil fuels already.
Back in the 1700s and 1800s during their economic revolutions, countries that are referred to as ‘developed’ today made the world a gas chamber. Now that the developing nations around the world are doing the same, albeit in a much more environment-friendly manner, the West is outraged.
How the West has been Derailing India’s Development
India is yet to utilise all its resources to leap into the finish line of ‘development’. Currently, fossil fuels are the only feasible resource that India can utilise for its development. Green energy is still an upcoming resource, and for it to replace combustible fuels will take quite some time. India cannot wait. India must march on.
It is the growth of India as an industrial and economic superpower that scares the West. Therefore, it is not a coincidence that various NGOs, climate activism groups and organisations linked to not just the West, but also China, continuously take steps to derail India’s developmental trajectory. They demonise industries, orchestrate protests against factories and even force the closure of national assets like the Sterlite Copper plant.
Eco-fascists and western climate activists have been constantly trying to make the developing world pay for the centuries of sins that the developed countries have committed in terms of industrial emissions. But India is having none of it now.
India Not Giving in to Western Pressure
Countries like the United States and China, which have talked much about green energy and presented policies to become carbon neutral, are lagging behind the goals set in the Paris Climate Agreement. As per 2018 carbon emissions data, China tops the list with 10.06 GT, the US fares second with 5.41 GT, while India emitted 2.65 GT.
During the COP26 summit at Glasgow last year, PM Modi did make a net-zero emission pledge, but at the same time, he reminded the western nations of their responsibility. He said, “It is India’s expectation that the world’s developed nations make $1 trillion available as climate finance as soon as possible. Justice would demand that those nations that have not kept their climate commitments should be pressured… climate finance cannot lag climate action”.
India also refused to take the net-zero carbon emissions pledge by 2050. PM Modi gave his deadline of 2070 and walked out, keeping India at the forefront.
As reported previously by TFI, according to Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, India is the only G20 nation well on track to achieve the goals mentioned under the Paris Agreement. Despite being a developing nation with a major part of the population below the poverty line, India has managed to keep its emissions in check.
Developed World’s Brazen Hypocrisy
Here’s a summation of what the developed world is up to:
- It has polluted the world. It is the sole reason why climate change is a crisis today.
- It is refusing to pay up for its crimes.
- It is shifting responsibility on developing nations like India. Suddenly, countries like India are at fault for climate change and must abandon developing themselves.
- They are also nefariously trying to hijack India’s development, using proxies and fake activists available in the country.
Read more: Climate Change –India has stopped taking morality lessons from the West
The per capita carbon emission of India is extremely low as compared to western countries. Historically too, India is arguably the least responsible for global environmental degradation, despite having a quarter of the world’s population. Yet, acknowledging the fact that India is not responsible for the climate crisis will automatically place the developed world in an uncomfortable position.
‘If not India, who is responsible for the mess?’ people will begin asking.
It is the West. It has always been the West. Ultimately, it will be held accountable, and its diversionary tactics will fall apart.