ABSTRACT
Introduction In the mid-2010s, rapidly industrializing India with its fast growing economy is, after the US and China (see Chapters 16 and 17 respectively), the world’s third largest greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) producer, emitting 2,407 million tons carbon dioxide (CO2) in 2013 alone (Global Carbon Atlas 2013). India is likely to overtake the fastest growing economy in the world, China, in the next decade ‘as the primary source of growth in global energy demand’ (Bloomberg Business 2015). However, India is both an emerging economy and a developing country with widespread poverty. According to India’s Planning Commission, 21.9 per cent of its population live in poverty (Government of India 2013), 59.2 per cent of the population in 2011 lived on less than $2.00 per day and 300 million people do not have access to electricity (World Bank 2014). The reason why India ranks so highly in terms of GHGE is not due to its high per capita emission levels; India represents 17 per cent of the world’s population but produces only 6 per cent of worldwide CO2 emissions. In fact, due to energy poverty, India still has very low levels of per capita CO2 emissions. Rather India contributes substantially to global CO2 emissions because of the sheer size of its population combined with the rapid pace of its economic development. India’s gross domestic product (GDP) has risen rapidly since economic liberalization in 1991. The majority of the country’s CO2 emissions are generated by the energy sector (70 per cent) (Dubash et al. 2015). In 2013, India and the US both contributed about one-fifth of the net growth in global coal consumption. India’s energy sector, and in particular its coal consumption, which amounts to 59 per cent of its total energy share, will increase by a further 25 per cent between 2016-2017 according to India’s Annual Reports and the 12th Five-Year Plan (Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency PBL 2013). With regard to the emissions intensity of the national economy, India’s energy emissions per GDP are higher than those of the EU but lower than those of the US. India has been a key player in international climate negotiations since the beginning of the 1990s. This chapter will explore the dynamics of climate policy-making in India. Considering the four main themes – (1) leadership,
(2) multi-level and polycentric climate governance, (3) policy instruments, and (4) the green and low-carbon economy – proposed in the Introduction of this edition (Chapter 1), this chapter will shed light on the prospects for the development of a climate policy framework which would allow India to develop in a more climate-compatible manner (Dubash et al. 2015) and to promote an effective global climate regime. The first section of the chapter investigates national attitudes towards climate change in India, while considering public opinion and political salience among parties and other important stakeholders. The next section outlines benchmarks of India’s climate debate and considers whether climate policy is perceived as a threat or opportunity in India’s shifting climate change discourse. The section will also explore the way India’s domestic and international climate policies have developed in three phases since the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992. India’s role in multilateral climate cooperation will be considered in relation to the global system of multi-level climate governance. What role has India, which is often regarded a deal-breaker (Betz 2012), played? Was it able to play a greater role in international climate negotiations, and, if yes, what kind of leadership did India exert? A change of government can open a window of opportunity for policy change. In 2014 India elected a new national ruling party with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) replacing the Indian National Congress Party’s (INC) coalition government. Are there signs that a new form of national leadership is emerging, one that is necessary to bring about substantial policy change in India? In a third section the choice of strategies and policy instruments in India’s energy and climate policy are explored against the backdrop of traditional and new modes of governance and low-carbon development. The fourth section explores multi-level and polycentric climate governance structures in India and asks whether India’s federal structure allows for leadership and stimuli in the form of bottom-up approaches from various levels of government and the private sector. Finally, wrapping up the previous sections, climate policy leadership in India will be explored.
