How India and China can Work Together on a Geoengineering Governance Framework

India and China have the possibility of driving forward the conversation on continuing credible research in the field of geoengineering. Both countries have been torchbearers for the rest of the developing world at climate conferences and both can work together to formulate a well-rounded governance framework regulating the research and technology in the field. While ethical considerations should be taken into account, the two countries can develop a holistic model (that also looks at potential negative consequences of geoengineering techniques) to have solar radiation management as a probable climate policy option. National agencies can be set up for funding solar geo-tech research and also keep tabs on the experiments being conducted.

India’s Solar And Renewable Energy Push Signals Challenge To Chinese Dominance

As finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman read out her Budget speech in Parliament on 1 February, the stock prices of domestic solar manufacturers such as Adani Solar, Tata Power and Suzlon rose sharply in response to government’s big push to green energy. With India setting specific goals for the reduction of carbon emissions as seen from the signalling at the COP-26 summit, the competition for dominating the global renewable energy markets is something to watch out for.

What India Can Bring to COP26

As heads of different states and climate researchers head to Glasgow to attend the 26th Conference of Parties organised by the United Nations Climate Change Framework Convention(UNFCCC), the question of how to tackle the threat of climate change still remains unanswered. The global climate action plan requires a massive revamp, especially post the report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) a few months ago. India and its active participation at the COP26 summit remain integral in the fight against climate change.Being a responsible climate leader, India can look to play the role of a mediator between the developing and developed countries. While increasing its own ambitions of reducing net emissions and improving clean energy infrastructure, India can look to support the states which are still dependent on traditional sources of energy to provide basic amenities to their citizens. Consistent efforts to ramp up clean energy production have made India almost achieve the target of 40% non-fossil fuel electricity generation capacity with 38.5% already having been installed in the country. This timely delivery of climate goals by India can also provide it adequate clout to call out the failure of the developed world to adhere to the agreed-upon climate goals.

Climate change and geopolitics converge to yield locust swarms

The butterfly effect occurs when a trivial cause, such as a butterfly fluttering its wings somewhere in an Amazon rainforest, triggers a series of events that end up having a massive impact elsewhere—a tornado ravaging the state of Texas in the US, for example. Edward Lorenz, the American meteorologist who coined the phrase in the early 1960s, came up with it while building a mathematical model to predict weather patterns. It is a fitting metaphor to explain a “plague" that is currently destroying vegetation and livelihoods in East Africa, the Arabian peninsula, Iran, Pakistan, and India.Read more