It’s Not About Climate Change, It’s About Climate Justice: Dr VK Saraswat, NITI Aayog

At the Enviro-Health Conference 2017, organized by Indraprastha Vigyan Bharati at Prithvi Bhawan, Ministry of Earth Sciences, various dimensions of air-pollution and future strategies to curb air-pollution, with a focus on the NCT of Delhi were discussed, in the presence of health-experts, policy-makers and civil society.

Dr Sumit Mishra, Senior Scientist at CSIR National Physical Laboratory said, “In the current scenario, Air pollution is one of the emerging challenges for the society, people and planet. A recent Lancet commission report states that pollution causes more deaths than AIDS, TB, Smoking, and affects the maximum number of people in India. The importance of clean air has already been emphasized in the Vedas, a long time back. I hope this conference leads to fruitful discussions and solutions to curb the menace of air pollution”. Mr Sudhir Mishra, Founder and Managing Partner of Trust Legal said in his introductory speech, “I personally don’t see that judicial proceedings can alone solve the problem of air pollution. For me clean air is not an environmental issue, it’s a health issue. We need to get united on a situation where government alone, or citizens alone, or NGT alone cannot solve.” He also added, “There is a face-off issue between infrastructure and environmental issue. We need a response they way an election commission functions in this country. There has to be an army of people who need to help execute this fight. Media is missing an important point- how as an ordinary citizen we are completely callous about it? My expectation today is that we will resolve certain steps, that all of us will convince at least 100 people to join this fight. It has to start on an individual level. We have to start at the basic level to curb the problem of air pollution”

“It’s an aptly timed conference, just 3 days before UN’s conference on Carbon Control. The atmosphere is the lifeline of humanity here. If we don’t handle it well, we will have repercussions on health, food, water distribution, climate change and so on. 67% comes from the transport sector, industrial pollution 21%, PM Modi said that the present generation of the responsibility of being the trustee of rich natural resources of future generations. It is not about climate change, it is about climate justice. It is the poorest 50% of the world which emit just 10% while the richest 10% contribute 49% of carbon emissions”, said Dr V.K. Saraswat, Member of NITI Aayog. He also added, “We have 13 of the top 20 cities in the world with the highest particulate matter, and Delhi is in the top rungs. Pollutants can be 500 times greater indoor compared to outdoor. If we go with business as usual scenario, temperature rise would be from 4-6 degree above the pre-industrial level. Children are worst affected, their lungs can be stunted, they can develop asthma. Rising levels of Carbon Dioxide may increase yield but it will also lead to extreme climate change effects which will increase food-borne disease, damage plant, impair food distribution and ultimately decrease yield.”

He also went on to add, “1 lakh premature deaths happen annually in India due to air pollution. Delhi is the most polluted city in the world. We have a responsibility as a nation to reduce the Emission Intensity per GDP by 33-35% from 2005 levels by 2030. The government has to make much stronger pledges and revise their NDCs in 2020 to cub the temperature rise to 2 degrees. Investment of 100 dollars per ton of emission has to be spent to reduce emission intensity by 33%”. He also added, “We have to follow rigorous emission standards. Clean fuels have to be used, for example, methanol, for which I am a bring proponent. We should produce methanol in an adequate quantity. No carbon dioxide or particulate matter is produced with the burning of methanol. There are various advantages of adopting the methanol economy especially for employment and pollution-curbing. ICT is not the only way to make a city smart, it is about environmental and air control too. India should enter into electric mobility as soon as possible. Adoption of policy into action orientation is very important. Force and pressure is not the only way to work towards environmental regulation, it has to be the will of people.”

Dr M. Rajeevan, Secretary at the Ministry of Earth Sciences said,” Air pollution is not only a problem of the elites, it’s a national and global issue. In each city, the main source of pollution will be different, depending on the activities in the city. We need to really understand the complex interactions between global and local factors. We need to get more and more people involved.” He also added, “We had very severe pollution levels in Diwali last year. Burning of agricultural waste from neighbouring states is always attributed a problem. We need to really understand the implications of the issue of crop-burning. We need to have a multi-prong strategy and more accurate measurement of the problem and causes of air pollution. I am sure this conference will give us more recommendations of air pollution control and pave the way for a better environment”.

“Clean air, clean soil, clean environment is important for our vitality. There is a considerable reduction in pollution from last year’s post-Diwali level to this year’s Post Diwali levels, mainly due to awareness creation among citizens, among school children. We must together come and craft solutions for sustainable development and protection of the environment by curbing air pollution”, said Dr KJ Ramesh, Director General, India Meteorological Department. Mr A. Jayakumar, Secretary-General, VIBHA, said “We, Indians should have a different attitude when approaching these problems. Our Earth is our mother as per the Vedas. We have already polluted the air, water and now we come to an AC Hall to discuss solutions. We have followed the Western way of doing things, and there is a philosophical derailment. Nature is our God, we will only take what we need. While the west believes is that nature is for materialistic happiness, so take as much as you want, which we are influenced by. We need a change of mindset. We always want to change others, but we should first change ourselves.”

On being asked about the best strategy to combat air pollution, Mr A. Jayakumar said, “There needs to be support of action by people’s movement in the country. Strong regulatory initiatives have to be taken by the government, along with an efficient people’s movement in NCR, creating awareness on-ground. These two things should be synchronized for effectiveness.” Mr Sudhir Mishra said, “I feel that there is no coordination between different state and central agencies on how to mitigate air pollution. Unless there is a comprehensive integrated plan of the states of the NCR, nothing can materialize on this issue. The biggest challenge is that the courts have done their part, whether it’s the Supreme Court or National Green Tribunal, but there is no recognition of the data by doctors and the scientific reports, taking action on that basis that it’s actually a health emergency”