Battling Global Crises Locally

Source– The post is based on the article “Battling Global Crises Locally” published in The Times of India on 13th September 2022.

Syllabus: GS3- Environmental Pollution and Degradation. GS2- Development and management of health

News– The article explains the difficulty in collective response at international level, as seen in the case of Covid and climate change. Thus, national level policy responses are required to compensate for it.

What are the challenges associated with collective response at international level and how can it be resolved?

Benefits of global public goods like climate change are enjoyed by other countries also due to its spillover effects in terms of reduced global warming.

But the burden falls exclusively on countries reducing emission levels, they are not even incentivized to reduce emissions. Thus, countries pass on this responsibility to each other.

The only way to solve the problem is through international cooperation. UNFCCC is an example of joint understanding at international level. The result has been significant yet insufficient progress toward reducing the danger of global warming.

What are the current challenges faced by the existing global framework to fight climate change collectively?

According to its latest IPCC assessment, beyond 2020, the world can add only another 500 billion metric tons of carbon to the existing stock. It will cap the increase in temperature at 1. 5°C above its pre-industrial level.

But China, US, EU, UK, India, Russia and Japan alone would end up adding 594 billion metric tons of carbon to the atmosphere before bringing their net emission to zero under their nationally determined commitments.

The US and EU-28 account for more than 45% of the existing carbon stock in the atmosphere. They have less than 15% share in the world population and have the highest living standards in the world.

Therefore, the remaining carbon space of 500 billion metric tons can be allocated to poorer nations.

How was the collective global response against Covid pandemic?

Given its global public goods nature, no single country could eradicate the infection fully on its own because there was threat of its reappearance as long as the virus remained active in other countries. Therefore, it was beneficial for countries that discovered vaccines against coronavirus to share it with other countries. Yet, there was limited response to it.

What are the suggestions for countries?

When it comes to global public goods, countries must take supplementary actions at the national level to compensate for suboptimal actions at the international level.

According to a recent book by public servants.

India must expand its production of solar and wind energy. It will not just meet its NDC obligations but also to satisfy the extra demand for Air conditioning that would arise from emission-induced increases in temperatures. States will have to play a critical role in promoting climate resilient livestock production, climate-smart agriculture and water conservation.

Response to pandemic will have to become an integral part of future disaster risk management strategy of India. It will have to include developing systems to minimize the spillover effects of epidemics from outside of national borders.