Ahead of COP23: Expectations from Waterlogged yet Water-Scarce Indian Cities

Raakhee Suryaprakash

The 23rd Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP23) will
convene at Bonn, Germany under the chairmanship of Fiji starting next Monday for twelve days.
Governmental and non-governmental representative will come together to evaluate their national
climate actions and renew their pledge to meeting the promises of the Paris Climate Agreement. Even
before the conference there are multiple reports out highlighting the fact that the commitments aren’t
enough to prevent irreversible climate change or aren’t being sincerely implemented. To start off, a
report from the UN itself found that the Paris Agreement pledges for only one-third of the actual action
necessary to avoid the worst effects of climate change, a major UN report has found. There are also
many instances of delays in climate funding allocation from developed to developing on the procedural
grounds which in turn delays adoption and implementation of efforts to reduce emissions.

In the context of our own nation, according to another report, this from PBL Netherlands Environmental
Assessment Agency, found that India was the only major Green House Gas (GHG) emitter that showed
an increase in emissions in 2016, up 4.7% from 3% of the global share, attributed to the many thermal
power stations functioning and in the pipeline. Considering the boiler explosion in Rae Baraeli at the
NTPC plant and the research from the Universities of Massachusetts Amherst and Melbourne published
in the journal Environmental Research Letters reports that coastal cities, that include our main metros
Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, face the destruction of a 1.3 metre sea level rise unless coal is shelved
from electricity generation completely by 2050 mainly as a result of melting Antarctica, our continued
betting on coal is worrying not Swachh. The paper’s lead author from the University of Massachusetts
Amherst, Robert DeConto, emphasizes the need for “aggressive mitigation pathways,” by completely
replacing coal with clean and renewable technology.

It’s not just sea level rise that plagues us but aggravated weather pattern in unresilient urban set-ups
with unresponsive civic bodies and choked infrastructure. A twister was spotted off Kasimedu in the
northern end of Chennai at the start of our monsoon season. I am writing this as my locality and city
floods under the start of the northeast monsoon, and this past year most of the Indian cities have made
news by being inundated by storm water and sewage following predicted rains. As a nation that’s rapidly
urbanizing typical of South Asia, I will highlight some of the actions needed in urban India to combat
climate change and expectations of funds and technology as a result of COP23 and the commitments to
the Paris Climate Agreement.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres speaking at a High-Level Symposium on Global Energy

Interconnection in New York on November 1, 2017 said that “Energy is the golden thread that connects
all the Sustainable Development Goals,” emphasizing the need for clean, affordable energy to replace
fossil fuels to tackle both climate change and the power scarcity. With increased electricity prices and
the regular power shutdowns not to mention the high costs of petrol, diesel, kerosene and gas in India
the conditions are ripe for leapfrogging to off-grid or grid-connected roof-top wind, solar or combination
energy generating systems. Prices have fallen dramatically and roof top solutions are becoming
affordable and accessible as demonstrated by Greenpeace’s Solar Shakti campaign. With low cost of
renewables it makes economic sense for the consumer to become the generator and eschew the coal-
dominated grid. Also according to report published by International Energy Agency (IEA), Energy Access
Outlook: From Poverty to Prosperity, “Renewables will allow access to electricity to more people than
coal.” While there’s information regarding betting on electric cars by the Indian government as well as a
cab aggregator doing the rounds, perhaps the emphasis should be on stopping the addition of vehicles
onto our already gridlocked roads and polluted cities. The floodwaters are doing their bit to take fuel-
engine vehicles off the roads perhaps now would be ideal to bring in the electric buses and road-train
and revolutionize and clean up mass transport. While the solarizing of our coal and electricity guzzling
railways is a great first step, such pilots must be adopted in larger numbers.

As important as energy is water for the cities. But as flooded cities demonstrate, be it Chennai or
Bengaluru or Gurugram, there’s water everywhere but not one drop fit for human consumption post
floods. Well-constructed storm water storage systems and unclogged and regularly monitored sewage
systems could enhance the climate resilience of cities.

A healthy city is a resilient city and with Dengue turning a killer and other post-disaster communicable
diseases an ever-present risk not to mention the increase in heat-related deaths, the climate and health
nexus is clearer than ever before.

In a recent op-ed calling for deeper emission cuts the emphasis is on the need for wide-ranging
sustainable and green policies "to support practices that successfully keep carbon in the ground, prevent
deforestation, support agricultural practice that sequesters carbon and promote sustainable land use
practices that reduce emissions. We also need a carbon tax... ‘Lifestyle’ and other consumption activities
... outside the radar of climate policy because they disturb the status quo or are difficult would have to
be considered. Policies should nudge especially the more prosperous communities towards less carbon
intensive lifestyles, either through taxes or incentives or both."

The traditional Fijian double-hulled, open ocean sailing canoe, the drua, has been displayed in Bonn for
the COP23 as a powerful but local technology symbolic of resilience as well as the coming together of
nations to fight climate change. Thinking of global environmental consequences and acting locally could
be the catalyst for positive climate action in time for COP23 and beyond.

Updates: 4/11/2017

Ahead of COP23 many environmentalists gathered in the streets of Bonn to call for the decarbonisation
of the economy and eschew the dependence on coal. These protesters pointed out the irony of the
conference venue being about 50km from “the large open-cast mines near Cologne and eastern
Germany's Lausitz region” – Europe’s largest carbon dioxide emitter! Present commitments from the
Paris Agreement according to some calculations put the carbon emissions on track to cause a 3 degree
rise in temperature which could lead to climate catastrophe unless there is complete, aggressive and
wholesale decarbonisation of economies – which despites rays of hope emerging from across the planet
could be a pipe dream impossible to implement.
5/11/2017

Even before the start of Climate Summit there were many instances of flooding across the Asian region
and devastation to heritage cities. Climate change and overburdened civic infrastructure victims of poor
planning across the planet together made for unprecedented devastation. From Typhoon Damrey’s
devastation in Vietnam especially in Hoi An and almost 10 feet of floodwaters following cloudbursts in
Penang, Malaysia right up to the devastations of the North East Monsoon across Tamil Nadu and
Pondicherry.

6/11/2017

The focus of the COP23 is clarity on a rulebook for the Paris Agreement, yet in keeping up the Bula spirit
and Talanoa Dialogue – “open, friendly and inclusive” with less finger pointing and more listening and
solidarity. Multilingual infographics from Climate Tracker explains what the expectations are from this
summit which in a big win saw all the nations of the UN sign the Paris Agreement Nicaragua joining the
Paris Agreement and Syria signalling that it will sign as well it’s a case of US vs. the rest if President
Donald Trump’s threats to withdraw from the Climate Accord.

7/11/2017

India’s Pavilion was inaugurated by India’s MOEFCC Dr. Harsh Vardhan at the COP23 with a
Bollywoodish stylization themed towards “Conserving Now, Preserving future.” It showcased India’s
climate related mitigation and adaptation strategies as well its clean technology innovations and
commitment to renewable energy – with solar panels being highlighted to remind of India initiated
International Solar Alliance.

9/11/2017

Despite the Bula spirit under the Fijian leadership at COP23 the developed vs. developing nations are
gridlocked with US and EU on one side and India and China of the Like Minded Developing Countries
(LMDC) group on the other in setting the pre-2020 agenda. While Indian PM Modi has indicated a
commitment to the environment above and beyond the Agreement, with actions on national, state and
community levels through government, private entity, NGO and citizen action demonstrate this spirit.
Yet the Emission Gap Report shows the need for this extra effort being the norm. As the article in the
Guardian puts it, Indian “ability to tackle poverty without massive fossil fuel use will decide the fate of
the planet.”