Don’t Ask India for a Net-Zero Pledge

Don’t Ask India for a Net-Zero Pledge

In the runup to the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow, everyone and their aide wants countries — particularly large developing countries such as India — to commit to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by a specific date. The European Union and the United States have promised carbon neutrality by 2050. China has given itself 10 years longer.

In India, we view such pledges with the skepticism they deserve. Rather than pushing our leaders to issue a similarly bogus promise, rich countries should think harder about how to accelerate the changes we are prepared to make.

It’s important to remember that the targets issued by others aren’t anywhere near as ambitious as they sound. The 2018 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change argued that, if warming is to be limited to 1.5 degrees centigrade, the global economy would have to hit net zero by 2050.

In reality, that would mean those places that can afford decarbonization — China and the West — would have to hit net zero much, much sooner. Expecting both rich and poor countries zero out their emissions at the same time would be unjust. Moreover, it is not going to happen — and the Western political leaders announcing