On April 22, a virtual summit on the environment convened by US President Joe Biden was attended by leaders from 40 countries.
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On April 22, a virtual summit on the environment convened by US President Joe Biden was attended by leaders from 40 countries. Households are responsible for releasing gas into the atmosphere. The summit was actually convened by the United States to make up for the time wasted on secession from the Paris Agreement. The summit will help the administration bring the United States back into the global meteorological landscape and align its local agenda with global climate policy. The main goal of the policy is to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050 and as an initial step; efforts will be made to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2030.
Biden’s administration has outlined a four-point strategy for climate change. The biggest investment plan in climate change-protected US infrastructure: Creating job opportunities as an additional benefit from measures to tackle climate change (remember that 70 million Americans are unemployed due to the corona virus) Eliminate dependence on coal through renewable energy and renewable energy and electric vehicles and infrastructure in the field of energy and make solar and hydropower the backbone of the US economy and China, the EU and other countries in the field of green technology. The summit has helped to link the local economy to the global climate agenda and to accelerate global efforts to tackle climate change ahead of the Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in November 2021. Pakistan was not invited to the summit. Thankfully, our Climate Change Advisor Malik Amin Aslam was invited to attend a session on adaptation. But other states in the region, such as Bangladesh, China and India, as well as Saudi Arabia from the Arab world, were invited. What have these countries done that Pakistan could not do? Bangladesh is currently leading a 48-nation group called the Climate Vulnerability Forum. The countries in this group have a total population of 1.2 billion and account for 5% of global carbon dioxide emissions. As the countries participating in this forum are among the most vulnerable to climate change in the world, they intend to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, with each member state it is committed to making the economy conducive to net zero emissions. Of course, these countries have tremendous moral strength and support for a number of fundamental initiatives. In fact, it is the forum’s biggest weapon in the global negotiating table on climate change.
While Bangladesh and Pakistan are among the low carbon emitters, China is the largest emitter in the world and India is the third emitter. Both countries have made impressive strides in the field of wind and solar energy, and both have become the largest producers and users of these technologies. However, both China and India have not yet given up the habit of producing energy from coal and want more time to stop using fuel.
China is the largest investor in fossil fuels, as well as the largest consumer of renewable energy. The two countries must be involved in any global action on climate change so that a global consensus can be reached on the next course of action on climate change. Unlike the United States, climate change measures in India have not yet become part of the local political agenda. On the other hand, China is at the forefront of various technologies, especially electric vehicles, energy storage, local carbon trading and carbon bonds, as well as various methods related to the process of controlling and storing carbon dioxide in the ecosystem. The United States’ efforts to regain some of its lost ground by increasing trade with India, in fact, the latter seeks to become a center of trade and investment, and to increase it to 170 170 billion annually for climate targets by 2030. Dollars are needed. Since these three countries have a lot of trade, technology and investment, there will be a lot to ask and give from each other without pointing fingers at each other. The recent visit of Special Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry to China and India already maps out future climate relations between them.
Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, has for decades obstructed international climate talks in the interests of the fuel industry, and has been stalling the process. In fact, by inviting Saudi Arabia, the administration has taken the cracks in US domestic politics to the Middle East. The shift to renewable energy will drastically reduce the world’s demand for fossil fuels, and it is important to involve oil-producing countries in the process of climate change. The administration is taking the war of American interest groups to the heart of the Middle East. Although the epicenter of the potential quake has been relocated, the focus of the US agenda on Pakistan is still on resolving the turmoil of 9/11. Even though Pakistan was not invited, the summit is of great importance to Pakistan; especially since it will co-host World Environment Day in June this year. Pakistan needs to do the following 3 things to get maximum global attention.
First:
We have to align our goal with the global goal. Pakistan needs to join the ranks of global powers that want to accelerate the work of mitigating the effects of climate change. That is why Pakistan should limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius instead of 2 degrees Celsius. Centurymakes it a carbon neutral country by the middle of the year and formally supports the elimination of coal-fired power plants by 2030 with almost zero carbon emissions. It is important to make its decision clear, as well as to communicate its national goal to the world through the government’s ‘Determined Contribution’ and ‘National Climate Change Policy’.
Second
Trust must be won. Pakistan’s declarations must be credible and weighed in a planned and appropriate manner. Even the best announcements can be trusted only if they are funded and managed to be reviewed periodically and the results released to the world. Historically, the gap between Pakistan’s research and scientific capabilities, rather than the gap between its performance and statistics, has been the biggest obstacle to gaining the world’s trust. Because our data and reporting errors repeatedly, intentionally or unintentionally, third-party verification can change the way the world sees us. Eliminating long-held suspicions will help dispel suspicions and unnecessary global isolation.
Third
You have to make your purpose clear. If we want the world to include our country in the global environmental arena, Pakistan will have to commit to a development plan that is conducive to the effects of climate change, including carbonizing the economy. It will have to increase its competitiveness through modern energy and affordable energy, make material and human capital sustainable, and promote macro-fiscal sustainability to protect the economy from potential risks posed by environmental decisions It has to be improved. Pakistan can be part of the global dialogue process on climate change by sharing the success stories of these initiatives with the world. Pakistan has no better prescription.
