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06

Sustainable Development and

Climate Change CHAPTER

¬ loZsHkoUrqlqf•u%A loZs lUrq fujke;k%A
loZs Hkækf.k i';UrqA ekdfpr~ nqq%• HkkXHkosRk~AA
May all be happy; May all be without disease;
May all have well-being; May none have misery of any sort
— (Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.14)

The 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development with 17 Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) and 169 associated targets encompasses a comprehensive developmental agenda
integrating social, economic and environmental dimensions. Several initiatives have
been taken at both the national and the sub national level to mainstream the SDGs into
the policies, schemes and programmes of the Government. India has been taking several
proactive climate actions to fulfill its obligations as per the principles of common but
differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities and equity. As mandated in the
UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement, the climate actions of the developing countries would
have to be supported by finance flows from the developed to the developing countries. The
Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) submitted by the country has been formulated
keeping in mind the developmental imperatives of the country and is on a “best effort basis”.
In its NDC, India has sought to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 per
cent below 2005 levels by the year 2030; achieve 40 per cent of cumulative electric power
installed capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030; and enhance forest and tree cover to
create additional carbon sink equivalent to 2.5 to 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide by 2030.
We need to strive for equity across nations and within a nation, and equity across and within
the generations. The COVID-19 pandemic and the iniquitous impact of the consequent
lockdown reemphasizes the fact that sustainable development is the only way forward.

INTRODUCTION
6.1 As the official adoption of SDGs reached its 4 anniversary, World Health Organization
th
declared the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), on 30 January 2020. The
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resultant public health emergency, which was later pronounced to be a pandemic, has led to
considerable human and economic costs setting countries back on their developmental goals and
creating serious impediments to the attainment of the SDGs.
6.2 The year 2020 was supposed to be the year by which developed country Parties were to
fulfill the goal of jointly mobilizing US$ 100 billion a year for climate finance, an essential
component of the commitments made by the developed countries, which has remained elusive.
The postponement of COP 26 to 2021 also gives less time for negotiations and other evidence-
based work to inform the post-2025 goal.