ABSTRACT
As the world community grapples with the threat of climate change and attempts to fulfil its commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), particular attention is riveted on India, which is the largest country in South Asia and home to one-fifth of the world’s population. India signed the Paris Agreement in November 2017, which seeks to limit the Earth’s warming to below 2 degrees Celsius. But to keep its pledge, India needs to confront the unpalatable reality that it alone accounts for 4.5 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gases. India’s carbon emission is still rising, as it is heavily dependent on fossil fuel to meet its energy need, which, again, is exponential. As a regional behemoth, it has a huge responsibility towards its South Asian neighbours threatened by climate change. Bangladesh and island country Maldives face the danger of being submerged in future. India needs to reorient its developmental agenda, giving more priority to the use of renewable sources of energy and green technology. What is even more important, its political leaders need to make use of the regional platform South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to promote cooperation among member countries for a concerted effort in dealing with climate change. This chapter explores how the political class of India should act with sagacity in dealing with climate change at home and within SAARC, keeping aside animosities and conflict of interests in other areas. Such a study may produce valuable insight about how to avert the apocalyptic consequences of climate change in South Asia.
