Movement For Raising Voice Against Wasteful Consumption

This editorial is based on “Climate and Us | A movement that puts a spotlight on West's wasteful consumption” which was published in The Hindustan Times on 08/06/2022. It talks about the initiative taken by India to highlight the wasteful consumption of the western countries and also provides solutions to India's problems related to climate change.

For prelims: Global lifestyle movement, climate equity monitor, carbon colonialism.

For mains: Highlighting the disparity between developed and developing countries and tackling the issues around it.

The Global lifestyle movement is launched by India to highlight consumption patterns and highlight historical responsibility, per-capita CO2 emissions holistically. It is administered by NITI Ayog along with various in with various individuals & international organizations.

What are the Objectives of Global Lifestyle Movement?

• It will initiate a global call for inviting ideas and suggestions from academics, universities, and research institutions on an environment-conscious lifestyle, which can also persuade individuals, communities, and organizations to change their way of living.
• These include behavioral-change solutions aimed at individuals, households, and communities on water, transport, food, electricity, recycling, and reuse.
• It will leverage the strength of social media networks to further influence local societal solutions regarding the climate crisis.
• Ideas are also invited on innovative solutions that promote wider adoption of traditional, climate-friendly practices and/or create livelihood options for communities that may lose their jobs with a shift towards climate-friendly production.
• The focus would be on following any international, national, and/or local best practices that can be feasibly scaled up for driving behavioral change related to climate action.

Why do We Need Such Type of Movement?

• During the drafting of the Glasgow pact text of COP 26 Glasgow climate conference, there was a clash between developed and developing countries on the issue of -
  • Historical Responsibility: It tries to address the historical emissions created by the developed world since the inception of the industrial revolution,
  • Carbon Colonialism: According to the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC including India & China) developed countries are performing “carbon colonialism”.
    • This means rather than following the principle of CBDR(Common But Differentiated Responsibility towards climate change) developed countries are pushing developing countries to announce immediate net-zero targets or lopsided conversations about achieving the 1.5-degree global temperature target while entirely ignoring the development needs of a large part of the world.
  • Recently, at the Stockholm +50 conference which was to commemorate 50 years of the landmark Stockholm conference, a statement of key recommendations also misses out on the issue of consumption and wasteful exploitations.
    • Due to this, there is a lack of accountability for historical consumption patterns.

What is CBDR?

• Common but differentiated responsibility (sometimes with the addition of the phrase 'and respective capacities') is a principle of international law which means that different countries have different capabilities and responsibilities to address cross-border environmental issues such as climate change. It balances:
• The need for all states to take individual responsibility for environmental destruction and its mitigation.
• The recognition that states aren't equally responsible for the problem nor equally capable of responding to it.

What are Annex 1 and Non-annex 1 countries?

• Annex I Parties include the industrialized countries that were members of the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) in 1992, plus countries with economies in transition (the EIT Parties), including the Russian Federation, the Baltic States, and several Central and Eastern European States.
• Non-Annex I Parties are mostly developing countries. Certain groups of developing countries are recognized as being especially vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change, including countries with low-lying coastal areas and those prone to desertification and drought.
• Others least developed countries(LDC) (countries that rely heavily on income from fossil fuel production and commerce) feel more vulnerable to the potential economic impacts of climate change response measures. The climate change Convention emphasizes activities that promise to answer the special needs and concerns of these vulnerable countries, such as investment, insurance and technology transfer.

What are the various disparities highlighted by India?

• The is an enormous gap in per capita emissions and resource consumption
• According to Climate Equity Monitor, an online dashboard for assessing equity in climate action put together by MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF). the per capita emissions of countries are as follows-
  • Australia - 22tco2eq per person (CO2 emissions (metric tons per capita))
  • the US - 20.2 tco2eq per person
  • India - 2.4 tco2eq per person
  • Brazil - 5.3 tco2eq per person
• It shows the US and other developed countries had the highest per capita electricity consumption in 2019,
• Climate Equity Monitor(CEM) also has an interactive map of the global carbon budget with the categorization of countries based on how much of the global budget they have already exhausted.
• Also, most of the annex 1 countries have consumed more than their fair share and are in debt while non-annex 1 countries have credit for not yet consuming their share.
• This shows a lack of decision-making or unwillingness to take action and policy paralysis among developed countries.

What could be the Way Forward?

• The movement is backed by big names like LiFE, United Nations, World Resources Institute, Centre for Social and Behavior Change (CSBC) and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Lord Nicholas Stern, Chair of the Grantham Research Institute; Prof Cass Sunstein, the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard; Inger Andersen, UNEP Global Head; David Malpass, World Bank, who hold a big influence on the individuals as well as various communities and societies, it would help in increasing the engagement with the masses.
• There is a need to highlight the disparities and drive change with innovative solutions
• Movement should also be an opportunity to highlight and address inequities within India,
  • As 71% of Indians cannot afford a healthy diet according to an analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment,
  • It suggests that the diet of an average Indian does not contain enough fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains;
  • Access to clean water and the environment also remains elusive in most parts of the country.
• Need to address the well-being and livelihoods of millions of poor people in India.
• It should also focus on a just transition of coal-dependent states which may soon undergo a major transition in industry and jobs.

Drishti Mains Question

Highlight the issues raised by the India-led global lifestyle movement and according to you what could be the solutions to these problems?

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Q) The ‘Common Carbon Metric’, supported by UNEP, has been developed for (2021)

(a) assessing the carbon footprint of building operations around the world

(b) enabling commercial fanning entities around the world to enter carbon emission trading

(c) enabling governments to assess the overall carbon footprint caused by their countries

(d) assessing the overall carbon foot-print caused by the use of fossil fuels by the world in a unit of time

Ans: (a)