CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE NEW GREEN ECONOMY: BIG QUESTIONS FOR $25

India must navigate China's monopoly in the global supply chain of green goods

- SEHR RAHEJA, TRISHANT DEV, & AVANTIKA GOSWAMI

The summer of 2024 was the hottest on record. The global average temperature between September 2023 and August 2024 was the highest on record for a 12-month period compared to pre-industrial averages. Data from the Centre for Science and Environment and Down to Earth showed that India recorded extreme weather events on 93% of days in the first nine months of the year. Events which occurred a few times every century are now happening every five years or less. The frequency adds to the severity of impact by not allowing sufficient time to recover from the cycle of losses and damages. The economic impacts of the climate crisis on the developing world cannot be underestimated.

Climate ambition needs to be ramped up dramatically and for this, fossil fuel demand and supply, responsible for about 90% of global CO2 emissions, have to decline substantially. But divorcing our economies from easily transportable, tradeable and hoardable fuels such as coal, oil and gas is proving very difficult to do in practice.

CSE's report, Equitable Fossil Fuel Phaseout: Science and Responsibility, shows developed countries such as the US and Canada must take the lead in the phaseout of fossil fuels, having both the historical responsibility and capability to make the transition. Both have announced new climate pledges this month-but neither commits to ending the production and use of fossil fuels.