by Armin Rosencranz, Siddhanth Prasad and Abhiroop Chowdhury
(Authors are, respectively, Dean, Assistant Professor, and Associate Professor at Jindal School of Environment and Sustainability, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana)

We must make deep efforts to decarbonize, both to make headway against the climate crisis and avoid irreparable harm to our economy, society, and civilisation. In view of the general consensus on this issue – which has existed for nearly three decades now – it is alarming that we have not yet taken corrective action.

However alarming the status-quo may be, it is anything but surprising. To explain, let’s consider the case of the carbon tax. Largely pushed by economists as the most efficient method to control emissions, it has struggled in the real world to gain acceptance. The problem is not that the economic policy advisors are wrong in theory, but that some of them are unseeing to the real-world constraints on rational policy making.

The carbon tax is deeply unpopular among the electorate. Much of the resentment comes from the negative popular reaction to the word ‘tax’. Whatever its basis, a rational politician would do well to acknowledge such sentiments. To do otherwise would be to risk electoral decimation.

The longer environmentalists take to recognise that policy making is not solely based on reason or logic, the easier they make it for unscrupulous but clever opponents of climate action to delay change.

Rampant forest fires, frequent natural disasters along the coastlines, intensive draught and desertification is destabilizing the global ecology, lives and livelihood of billions. Environment, climate change requires sustainable solutions. Climate situations are worsening day by day. Even with a cooling La Niña event, and ongoing pandemic, 2020 was one of the three warmest year in record with 2011-2020 being the warmest decade.

Global temperature is 1.2 degree Celsius above record since the industrial revolution. It is predicted that if the global average warming increases by more than 3°C by 20701 , it can lead to a loss of $6 trillion in present value terms by 2050, which will be 6% of India’s GDP in 2050. There is a hope with substantial emission reduction nation can have an economic gain of $11 trillion by 2070.

One of the major source of Green House Gasses (GHG) emission is transportation and energy sector. A report indicates that during 2019, 29% of emissions is generated by transport sector while energy sector contributed to 25% at US2. A 2014 report indicated that India’s GHG footprint was 3,202 million metric tonnes CO2 equivalent, of which the energy sector contributes 68.7 percent.

Diversifying the energy production and adopting ‘Electrical vehicles’ can be an effective solution to tackle the current climate change impacts.

India’s energy production is largely dependent on thermal power which accounts for about 70% of produced electricity, which is also a major contributor to GHG emissions. On the other hand, Nuclear technologies are safer, greener and can produce more affordable energy. The cost budget of an energy producing unit is estimated through levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), including total cost of electricity produced by the station after including the incurred cost of operations, building, maintenance and waste disposal investments for the lifetime of the unit. LCOE of any nuclear power unit is almost equal to that of thermal power stations due their more power production and low maintenance capabilities. Recent generation III+ reactors have better safety standard reducing instances of radiation leak by 1600 times if compared to the generation I systems. World Nuclear Association’s Cooperation in Reactor Design Evaluation and Licensing (CORDEL) Working Group and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency’s (NEA’s) Multinational Design Evaluation Programme (MDEP), ensure reactor safety during installation of any nuclear power unit. Till date about 3.2% of India’s energy is produced from nuclear sources3.

Electric vehicles are the future of climate change management strategy in the transport sector. A study indicates that EV’s are 9% more expensive than hydrocarbon driven vehicles but result in 29% less emissions. Majority of EU countries give bonus or incentives on EV purchases. India provides about 1.5 Lakh INR subsidy on EV purchases4.

Economic institutions across the globe are accepting the environmental consciousness in the wake of the global climate change catastrophe. It is creating an employment vacuum where employers will be requiring environmentalists and sustainable development experts who can understand the complex environmental issues and can envision an effective solution.

Modern day environment and sustainability professionals need to have a holistic understanding of environmental issues through multi-disciplinary lenses of science, policy, humanities, law and governance. The global crisis requires change makers and modern environmental, sustainable education for enabling youth with the skills and practical experiences.

The Jindal School of Environment and Sustainability (JSES) is the first inter-disciplinary environment & sustainability school in India and follows the ideology of empowering youth with multi-disciplinary environmental education to serve as real world advocates of environmental change.

1 FE Bureau. Climate Change: India May See Loss of $6 Trillion by 2050; Top 5 Sectors to Be Most Hit Account for over 80% of GDP, 5 Sept. 2021, https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/climate-change-india-may-see-loss-of-6-trillion-by-2050-top-5-sectors-to-be-most-hit-account-for-over-80-of-gdp/2323918/.
2 (“Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions | US EPA”)
3 Bureau, News. “How Nuclear Energy Can Provide Solution To India’s Power Demand.” ABP News LIVE, Latest News, Breaking News, Top Headlines, India News Today – ABP LIVE, ABP Live, 11 Mar. 2021, https://news.abplive.com/business/how-nuclear-energy-can-provide-solution-to-india-s-power-demand-1448008.
4 Qiao, Qinyu, et al. “Life Cycle Cost and GHG Emission Benefits of Electric Vehicles in China.” Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, Elsevier BV, Sept. 2020, p. 102418. Crossref, doi:10.1016/j.trd.2020.102418.