• The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) hosted the 18th edition of its Foreign Policy and Security Tiffin Talk series on India and Global Climate Cooperation with Constantino Xavier, Fellow, CSEP and Karthik Nachiappan, Fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore, and NonResident Fellow, CSEP.
• The discussion focused on CSEP’s upcoming co-edited report on India and Global Climate Cooperation. It included presentations from the editors and a few of the contributing authors on their policy briefs. The discussion focused on the proliferation of climate cooperation frameworks post-COP21, ranging from multilateral, bilateral to minilateral, and the changing nature of India’s engagements with these frameworks.
• The discussion featured presentations from Jhalak Agarwal, Council on Energy, Environment and Water, Medha Prasanna and Peter Jarka-Sellers, Observer Research Foundation America, Pooja Ramamurthi, CSEP, and Vyoma Jha, Natural Resources Defense Council.
•  The discussion was moderated by Constantino Xavier, Fellow, CSEP. Participants included officials from various embassies and missions, scholars from leading think tanks and universities from India and abroad, and former diplomats.
• The Tiffin Talk series features scholars presenting their recent, evidence-based research to peers and practitioners. This series of closed-door seminars seeks to facilitate dialogue between researchers and policymakers on India’s foreign and security affairs.

Contextualising Climate Cooperation

Post-COP21, nation-states around the world became more aware of the pressing need for climate action, and COP26 witnessed a renewed focus and attention to the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of each country. Speakers emphasised the proliferation of cooperation frameworks focused on addressing issues of climate adaptation and mitigation. They discussed how the climate agenda is no longer limited to global frameworks like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Conference of Parties (COP). Climate change finds resonance and definitive action across frameworks, multilateral – World Bank, World Trade Organisation (WTO), International Energy Agency (IEA) – minilateral like the Quad, and bilateral through strategic climate partnerships between two countries. As international climate action fragments further, navigating this space to ensure security and sustainability becomes an important task for countries like India. Focusing on the changing nature of India’s climate diplomacy, the discussion covered the country’s increasing engagements with various climate frameworks. Until 2009, India’s climate diplomacy was largely driven by equity and compelling developed countries to reduce carbon emissions given historic contributions. However, more recently, India has emerged as a global climate leader, taking significant policy action on both climate mitigation and adaptation. Further, the country is actively engaging with its counterparts in developed and developing countries to foster climate cooperation.

Multilateral Fragmentation

As a participant mentioned, India’s climate diplomacy is becoming increasingly relevant given a more “dynamic, fluid, and strategic global context” where climate policy requires countries to be diplomatically agile, working to seize and clinch opportunities to drive domestic action. Other jurisdictions like the US and the EU are behaving strategically, adopting “muscular policies” like the Inflation Reduction Act and the Green New Deal that distort climate financing and technology transfer. The EU announced its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), a policy that many countries, including India, have criticised. Brazil, South Africa, China, India, Russia, and others have voiced concerns over the WTO-compatibility on foreign subsidies and its negative impact on the developing world. The discussion emphasised the need to secure the global commons as we “witness a rapid erosion” of the COPcentric framework. The increasing decentralisation in the space of climate adaptation and mitigation, does not signify a complete deterioration of the UNFCCC. It may warrant further study of how the FCCC oversee the global climate transition. As was brought out by the participants, the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) of the Paris Agreement plays a critical role ensuring transparent reporting by countries vis-a-vis mitigation. Participants called for the FCCC to focus on measuring emissions to ensure unbiased emission standardisation.

Climate Cooperation Frameworks

Some of the frameworks discussed included the ETF, International Solar Alliance (ISA), the India-US Strategic Clean Energy Partnership and Triangular Climate Cooperation undertaken by India in third countries. The upcoming report includes other chapters on the Quad and India-EU climate relations. These frameworks become important because, as mentioned by a participant, “India’s climate transition will be difficult to complete alone”. India played a significant role in 1992 during the formulation of the UNFCCC at Rio de Janeiro, and it continues to place climate on the forefront of its foreign policy.

The ETF is crucial for ensuring implementation of the NDCs. It makes climate reporting for the developing world more stringent. Despite this as well as various capacity issues faced by the country, “India is a forerunner in climate reporting”. The ISA was the “first instance where climate change became a foreign policy strategy” for India. It initially started as a “climate club of solar rich countries” but the membership is now open to all. That said, the ISA faces multiple issues with respect to governance, funding, and legality. The participant mentioned that though the ISA started with a “vision of an action-oriented organisation, it is still functioning in the space of advocacy and policy”. The participant nudged the possibility of leveraging the ISA to spur climate financing. Bilaterally, participants discussed how “energy and climate have been top priorities” in the India-US relationship through US administrations from 1993 onwards. Capacity constraints, financing, technology transfer and stunted strategic thinking emerged as issues inhibiting Indian climate diplomacy.

Climate Finance and Technology Transfer

Several participants flagged the issue of global climate financing to facilitate the ongoing energy transition. Participants highlighted the need for government policies to drive private sector capital for climate purposes. The crucial issue of the need for Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) reforms was brought up given increasing multilateral fragmentation. While some participants questioned India’s role as a financing entity and ensuring technology transfer, many affirmed the steps taken by India and stated that “India’s figures are growing on financing”. One of the participants mentioned the role of Indian indigenous technology in tackling climate change, and moving beyond the idea that technology only flows from the Global North to the Global South. Alternative energy sources, including nuclear energy, have re-entered the discussion, especially in the face of the Ukraine war, and participants discussed India’s potential for cooperation on this front. Another participant pointed out the leading role India could play in the arena of climate mitigation, for instance through the Mitigation Work Program launched at COP27. India could thus play a proactive role setting the agenda, coming up with projects and pathways which could be replicated across the Global South. The demand for climate finance for the Global South could then springboard off this initiative. Going forward, India must engage with private frameworks that focus solely on climate change like the Asia Investors Group for Climate Change (AIGCC).