Dr. Arunabha Ghosh, CEO, Council on Energy, Environment and Water
Mr Jamshyd N. Godrej, Chairman, Godrej & Boyce, and Chairperson, Council on Energy, Environment and Water
Ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you for welcoming me today, to celebrate ten years of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, and to talk about how we can move sustainability from the margins to the mainstream.
We have, over the last decade and longer, indeed seen sustainability move closer to the centre of political and economic decision-making. The council, and many bodies like it, have played a big part in this process.
But much more work lies ahead of us than lies behind.
Sustainability has hit the mainstream – in promises, not action
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The international community has agreed on what we need to do on sustainability and how to do it – through the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement and so many more agreements.
India, like many nations, is onboard with the global plans and has shown some progress.
- UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report shows that India is among the six G20 economies that are projected to meet their unconditional Paris targets with current policies.
- Prime Minister Modi at the 14th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) announced that India would raise its target for restoring degraded land from 21 million hectares to 26 million hectares by 2030.
- Forest and tree cover have increased in India, reaching just over 80 million hectares, which is around a quarter of the geographical area of the country.
India should be congratulated for its efforts in these and other areas.
But let me blunt. Action in many countries has yet to catch up with the promises made under our global blueprint for sustainability. And here India is no exception. As we move towards the delayed COP26 UN Conference on Climate Change, we are calling for all countries, including India, to take earnest efforts to make real the promise of Paris and to also stretch their commitments in the new Nationally Determined Contributions
Because the science tells us that we must. Indeed, analysis shows that we, as a global community, have barely made a dent in the accelerating triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature loss and pollution – as the events of this year have demonstrated all too clearly.
The triple planetary crisis of climate, nature, and pollution
Nature loss
I will start with the loss of nature, which is one of the main drivers of the COVID-19 pandemic that has caused so much misery. COVID-19 is a zoonotic disease – transmitted from animal to human. Human expansion into wild spaces and increasing exploitation of species is bringing us closer to animals and the diseases they harbour.
In fact, COVID-19 is only the latest zoonotic disease. Sixty per cent of known infectious diseases and 75 per cent of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic. Think Ebola, SARS, HIV, Lyme disease and Lassa fever, to name a few. Meanwhile, two million people in low- and middle-income countries die each year from neglected endemic zoonotic diseases.
We are worsening the risks of pandemics by cutting into nature, but this is not the only impact. Loss of biodiversity and ecosystem integrity will undermine efforts on 80 per cent of assessed SDG targets. This means slower progress on poverty, hunger, health, water, cities and climate.
India, as one of the 17 megadiverse countries in the world, is hugely important in this regard. The country harbours 7 to 8 per cent of globally recorded species.
India’s own assessment shows that about 96 million hectares, almost one-third of its total geographic area, was undergoing land degradation between 2011 and 2013 – making the commitment on reversing land degradation I mentioned above even more important.
Climate change
Looking at climate change, problems are mounting globally. Forest fires, extreme heatwaves, devastating droughts and terrifying floods are commonplace in many too many countries. India alone has faced a series of crises: Northwest and Central India suffered severe heatwaves, swarms of desert locusts destroyed nearly 50,000 hectares of cropland and super cyclone Amphan battered the Eastern coast, causing an estimated 13 billion US dollars in damage and devastating the fragile Sunderban mangroves.
As we speak, devastating floods in Southern and Western India have displaced hundreds of thousands.
This is unfortunately only the beginning, for India and the world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that global warming will reach 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052 unless we dramatically step up action. The World Meteorological Organization and the UK’s Met Office brought this timeline even closer home, with new climate predictions that point to a 20 per cent likelihood that one of the next five years will be 1.5°C warmer than pre-industrial levels.
The temporary slowdown emissions during the pandemic lockdowns will have a negligible impact. We need large-scale, structural interventions that take the world permanently away from its addiction to fossil fuels.
Pollution
Finally, we have pollution and waste. Air pollution is the world’s single largest environmental health risk. Data from the WHO shows that 9 out of 10 people breathe air containing high levels of pollutants, and that around 7 million people die every year from exposure to polluted air.
In India, household and ambient air pollution is responsible for an estimate of one million-plus premature deaths and an enormous burden of disease and disability, concentrated disproportionately among the poor.
The common thread of consumption and production
These three crises are closely linked and driven in large part by unsustainable production and consumption. The International Resource Panel has consistently reminded us that our relentless extraction of resources is devastating the natural world.
- We have intensified agriculture, expanded infrastructure and extracted resources – altering 75 per cent of the planet’s ice-free surface.
- Travel and transport have erased distances while emitting huge amounts of carbon dioxide and particulate matter.
To address the triple crisis, we must reboot our way of life
Frankly, none of this information is revelatory. We already knew we had to change. But the impacts of COVID-19 – the deaths, illnesses, economic damage and poverty – have told us that we can delay no longer.
We must – now and forever – redefine the relationship between people and the earth. To do this, we must embed sustainability into COVID-19 economic recovery.
At this time most countries whose economies have been hit hard by the pandemic-induced economic slowdown look to revive the economy and create jobs after the pandemic. Such economic revival will be critical. But let me be clear. This economic jump-start cannot and must not be done at the expense of the environment. It is imperative for all countries, including India to not only meet their current commitments – on plastic pollution, climate and land degradation – but to increase and stretch these.
In this context, I also call on the government to look closely at the new draft Environmental Impact Assessment Notification 2020 to ensure it provides adequate safeguards across the full spectrum of environmental impacts.
Given that a single zoonotic outbreak can incur trillions of US dollars in costs across the globe, economic recovery focused on climate action and a healthy natural world is the best means of long-term prosperity. There are ample opportunities for governments to simultaneously address environmental objectives and ensure that recovery leads to more sustainable outcomes overall.
- The World Economic Forum estimates that a new nature economy can generate over USD 10 trillion in annual business opportunity and 395 million jobs by 2030. The International Renewable Energy Agency has estimated that India’s target of 175 GW renewable energy by 2022 will create 1 million new jobs in solar and 180,000 jobs in wind energy.
- Government funds can leverage private investments by a factor of up to four and should be used strategically to nudge investment decisions and financing in the right direction.
- Realignment of energy subsidies will be critical. In India, subsidies for fossil fuels are over seven times the subsidies for alternative energy. Now is the time to incentivize investments in zero-carbon, sustainable and more resilient infrastructure by redirecting such subsidies. And fewer countries have acknowledged and acted on the potential of clean energy quite like India which has added more renewable-based capacity in recent years than coal. India’s current solar tariffs are 30 per cent lower than existing thermal power costs.
- There is no future to be built on coal. Not only does it make sound business sense to invest in electricity generated from renewable sources, but such measures can ensure that we not only curb emissions but protect the vital forest cover on which life and livelihoods depend.
- With India’s vast renewable sources, another major area for saving import costs and negative environmental impact is a shift to electric vehicles in the country. NITI Aayog has estimated that the shift to renewable energy-based e-mobility could save up to USD $60 billion and reduce 1 Giga Tonne carbon emissions, roughly equal to what is emitted by 5 of the world’s largest cities combined.
- Stimulus measures can accelerate India’s leadership in this domain by tapping into the significant potential of clean-energy based livelihood solutions in rural India[i].
One Health investments crucial
Another important piece of work – particularly for avoiding future pandemics – is adopting integrated human, animal and environmental health expertise and policy. This is known as the One Health approach.
Conservation experts monitoring great apes, for instance, can be a valuable part of zoonotic disease surveillance in communities living nearby. Experts monitoring habitats also have a role to play. For example, in 2018, livestock experts working closely with healthcare professionals in Kenya detected Rift Valley fever and deployed livestock vaccinations and other interventions to contain its spread.
As we look at recovery from the current pandemic and how to avoid another, One Health strategies should be front and centre.
In this context, I warmly congratulate the Government of India for setting up a Steering Committee to advance thinking and action on issues at the interface of Environment and Health in India. This is a very forward-looking initiative and more relevant than ever before.
Backing global processes for recovery
As I mentioned earlier, we have learned from the pandemic that promises and intent are not enough. We need action to implement our promises and we need to stretch our commitments so that we can provide for a better and more sustainable future. Therefore, nations must commit more strongly to the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. The delay in the climate meeting gives nations the opportunity to adjust their Paris commitments upwards, with a focus on nature-based solutions.
Just as important is pulling out all the stops to define the post-2020 biodiversity framework. We need ambitious, clear and common targets for a nature-positive world. We need implementation support on financing, capacity development, transparency and accountability. We need to buy in from sectors and groups, both public and private, that drive biodiversity loss: agriculture, infrastructure, public works, municipal planning and consumers.
The green economic recovery cannot succeed without the full engagement of the private sector
In particular, the private sector needs to be fully engaged. Business has a critical role to play as a source of finance, a driver of innovation, and an engine of economic growth and employment.
Businesses must realize they can no longer pollute their way to profit. Economy is environment, and environment is economy. To emphasize this, let me remind you of the World Economic Forum’s messages from earlier this year.
- Around half of global GDP is dependent on nature and its services.
- Business leaders identified the top five global risks for the next ten years as environmental: climate change, loss of nature and pollution high among them.
- Business in India has shown great leadership in sustainability. India ranked 5th among countries surveyed for corporate commitments to science-based targets by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) in 2019[ii], which shows that investors are demanding better disclosure of climate change risk from Indian companies.
Industry leaders across sectors in India have made significant efforts at promoting clean and efficient energy, water and waste management, creation of green supply chains and promoting the concept of circular economy. We need such initiatives to become more broad-based and also spread to the medium, small and micro-enterprise level.
India a key partner in sustainability
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In conclusion, we must use COVID-19 as a learning moment. It has shown humanity that our ill-treatment of the planet has consequences. It has shown that the warnings of scientists can and do come true. It has shown that we must listen, plan and prevent.
My one note of caution is that we must be careful not to think that our ability to respond to a global pandemic is the same as our ability to respond to climate change or biodiversity loss.
With this pandemic, we focus on improving enhanced treatments for those infected, increasing survival rates and on the development of a vaccine. The strategy is clearly to rely on human ingenuity and technology to help us out of the global pandemic tailspin.
But climate change will not be shooed away in one year or five. The carbon in our atmosphere, and the changes to global systems, will linger for decades. Once ecosystems have collapsed, we cannot coax them back into life in a matter of months. A future pandemic may be even more deadly and quick to spread, accelerating beyond our ability to respond.
Humanity’s best bet is to minimize the risks and impacts of such crises by putting sustainability at the heart of COVID-19 recovery. New research on COVID-19 for example, suggests that a series of measures to protect the natural world and ecosystem services would cost a mere 2% of the post-COVID-19 recovery bill.
India is a major force in making this happen. It has 18 per cent of the world’s population and the highest numbers of aspiring youth. The country’s ongoing presidency of the Convention to Combat Desertification and the Convention on Migratory Species, along with its upcoming presidency of the G20 in 2022, is a tremendous opportunity for the country to steer global stewardship of the environment. As one of the biggest economies in the world, I fully expect to see India take up the leadership mantle on sustainability.
We at UNEP look forward to working with the Government of India and the Council, and our other partners in India to help the world make the right choices.
Thank you.
Executive Director
[i] Sanchit Waray, Sasmita Patnaik, and Abhishek Jain. 2018. Clean Energy Innovations to Boost Rural Incomes. Report. https://www.ceew.in/sites/default/files/CEEW_Clean_energy_innovations_to_boost_rural_incomes_15Oct18.pdf
(Peer reviewed by multiple independent national and international organisations)
[ii] Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). 2020. Climate and Business: Partnership of The Future CDP India Annual Report 2019. Report. January. https://bit.ly/33bbdWP
