The recent Climate Transparency Report by experts in G-20 nations have predicted a grim future for India. According to the said report, amongst G-20 nations India will be most impacted by global warming with its productivity, employment and economic growth, all going down alarmingly. The report has claimed that the country has suffered a loss of 5.4 per cent of its GDP in 2021 due to climate change. It further warned that because of global warming annual damage in India may rise by 49 per cent and its productivity may fall by 5 per cent in the near future. As per the report, India will be hit hard by global warming for various reasons including its diverse geographical features, high population density and poor disaster management infrastructure. True to the findings of the report, India has been facing nature’s fury like never before with unprecedented floods, erosion, landslides and drought, etc. causing enormous damage nationwide over the last few years. The Northeast suffered severely this summer due to flooding, while the rainy season in this part of the country did not witness sufficient rainfall. Excessive rainfall was experienced down south with Bengaluru and Hyderabad being the worst affected cities in the country due to natural calamities. Thus, India cannot take this report lightly and should initiate all-out effort to meet the climate goals to protect the nation from nature’s wrath.
But a close look at the climate crisis will reveal that India is not solely responsible for inviting trouble as the country’s greenhouse gas emissions stands at only three per cent of global emissions. This statistic indicates that developed nations have majorly contributed to bringing the planet to the verge of extinction. It is due to huge amounts of emissions from countries such as the United States of America (USA) and a number of European countries, which is fast threatening to make the world inhabitable. So no matter how much India reduces emissions, the world will continue to get warm as rich nations are not doing enough to curb this menace by joining hands with poorer countries. As a matter of fact, these countries have adopted the same approach during the recent pandemic and have taken decisions to suit their own interests even in violation of WHO’s guidelines. As a result, the lethal COVID-19 virus may create more havoc at any time as a vast number of people in the world are yet to be vaccinated. Such a situation could be averted if richer more developed nations had shared adequate resources. Similarly, in the case of global warming, these countries have not shown any serious inclinations towards reducing emissions. It appears that they are only interested in putting the burden on developing nations like India. It is time for these countries to realise that the world can only be saved from nature’s wrath if we stand united. Otherwise, we all will perish as nature does not discriminate amongst people, nations or continents.
