UN Day Intercollegiate Fest 2021
at MOP Vaishnav College for Women, Chennai
[25 October 2021]
Remarks by Ambassador T.S. Tirumurti
Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations
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Principal Dr. Lalitha Balakrishnan,
My dear students,
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
I thank you for inviting me to the UN Day Intercollegiate Fest 2021. I felicitate the Principal of MOP Vaishnav College for Women and the Students’ Cabinet of the college for organising this event. Not only is the topic you have chosen absolutely crucial in the current context but I am also extremely impressed by the range of activities on every one of the SDG goals, including quiz, elocution, panel discussion, comic making, photography, videos, digital posters, recipes, mono-acting, etc. This is truly an SDG fest. I particularly commend Principal Dr. Lalitha Balakrishnan for providing leadership to the college and for driving this process. I was also truly touched when an alumni of the college, Shweta Manohar took the trouble of meeting me with her family in New York to handover a bouquet on behalf of college. MOP Vaishnav has gone from strength to strength and now stands as an institution of excellence.
2. Implementing SDGs is a “Whole of Society” effort, which includes not just government but also the private sector, civil society, universities, think-tanks, etc. Therefore by taking this up in this manner and spreading awareness, MOP Vaishnav College for Women is giving the SDGs a people-centric focus, that too amongst the youth – the future of our country. I thank you for this initiative.
3. I had the priviledge of taking part in Rio+20 Conference in 2012, where the first building block for the SDGs was put in place. It may interest you to know that at that time, not everyone was looking at the UN to do the SDGs. As you are aware, the MDGs – Millennium Development Goals – were not negotiated by the UN Member States but merely handed down by UN Secretary General for countries to implement. In Rio+20 in 2012, developed countries were interested in doing the same thing for SDGs as well, which is to have a non-negotiated process. At Rio+20 Conference, primarily due to efforts of countries like India, Brazil and others, who insisted on these negotiations being done in the UN by all Member States, this Member States driven process was finally agreed to. Now SDGs truly belong to all Member States of the UN and we have a joint stake in implementing them.
Friends,
4. When the discussions on Sustainable Development Goals took place and the SDGs were finalised, an important principle which was kept in mind was to preserve the balance between 3 pillars - environment, social and economic pillars. Consequently, when we discuss SDGs in the context of a pathway to achieve them, we need to be conscious of maintaining this balance and not to tilt excessively to the environment or to the economic side. Therefore, when the world is reeling under the pandemic, we need to recover better by focusing on all the three pillars and not just on one in exclusion to the others. Otherwise, it would be self-defeating. I say this since there is once again a renewed attempt to focus on the climate change agenda in exclusion of the other two pillars.
5. COVID-19 has undoubtedly disrupted decades of developmental progress on many fronts, pushing millions into poverty. It has resulted in the most damaging humanitarian and economic crisis since the Second World War, especially for the more vulnerable countries. The pandemic has effectively squeezed the funds available to achieve Agenda 2030 in this Decade of Action and diverted them for more pressing humanitarian requirements. While this is understandable, this sudden shortfall is not being made up by any other source, whether public or private. The challenge is therefore, how not to lose the momentum towards Agenda 2030.
6. We have seen recent efforts at mobilising financing through multiple sources which we loosely refer to as innovative financing. However, we have to guard against “innovative accounting” as opposed to “innovative financing”. We have seen how the goal of mobilising US$ 100 billion for combating climate change is far from being realised even while the figures reached so far are themselves being contested.
7. You must all be aware that India has been driving an array of SDG initiatives, such as National Health Insurance Scheme, National Nutrition Mission and Clean India Mission. Programmes are aimed at universal access to housing, sanitation, quality education, health protection and clean energy, which will improve quality of life especially of the most vulnerable. To give a few examples, we have expanded access to clean cooking fuel to over 85 million households in need; built over 110 million toilets in rural areas to improve sanitation; and added over 420 million bank accounts for the unbanked, the majority of them women. Our food security programmes are successfully addressing issues of malnourishment among children and women. To cope with the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, we have announced food security, cash transfers, and other such measures directly aimed at alleviating the misery of the people. We have also taken ambitious commitments under the Paris Agreement for climate action. In other words, India is Walking the Talk on SDGs.
8. While we have SDGs as an important goal to attain, for a country like India with a population of more than 1.3 billion, we need to have both implementation and data collection right from the grassroots level. For this we need to localise the SDGs. For the successful implementation of 2030 Agenda, a holistic, coherent and integrated approach at the nationals, sub-national, and regional levels is imperative. Niti Aayog is coordinating this aspect and developing SDG vision document at sub-national and local levels. The development of the State Integrated Framework and the District Integrated Framework with multiple stakeholders participation, including civil society, has helped dissolve a silo-based functioning and fine tune the monitoring and data system.
9. To enhance data collection at national and local level, we have developed “SDG India Index & Dashboard” using a globally accepted methodology after extensive consultations with civil society. The 2021 edition of the Index covers all 17 Goals, 70 targets, and 115 indicators.
10. Another example of successful implementation of localisation of SDGs has been the Aspirational Districts Programme, which focuses on 112 of India’s most developmentally challenged districts, across five sectors such as health, education, agriculture, infrastructure and skill development. The UN has itself taken note of this. UNDP’s appraisal report had pointed out to this programme of India as a very successful model of “local area development’ to ensure that localisation of SDGs becomes a reality.
11. Despite the pandemic, we have seen remarkable progress in some crucial SDG goals, for example in Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), Goal 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), Goal 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and Goal 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production).
Friends,
12. On climate change, India is the only country among G20, which is on course to meet the Paris Agreement targets of 2030. We are moving towards the target of 450 GW of renewable energy Agreement. We are working to make India a Green Hydrogen Hub. The share of renewable energy in the energy mix stands considerably enhanced to 38%. There are several more positive developments on this front in India. However, there are a few aspects which you all need to keep in mind to cut through the clutter of climate change.
i) India is the only country among G-20 on course to meet 2030 climate targets. Some of the other countries, mainly developed countries, do not yet have the credible path to achieve 2030 targets; Therefore, the focus now should be to hold the countries accountable for meeting their 2030 targets under Paris Agreement. As it is, most developed countries did not even meet their 2020 commitments but they would like us to forget that!
ii) Even before finding a credible path to 2030, the UN and other countries have already started discussing about 2050 and put forward the concept of “Net Zero” in 2050. While it may appear attractive, it is important to understand the implications of “Net Zero”.
iii) When we discuss “Net Zero”, we need to first clearly define what is meant by “Net Zero”. Even if all the developed countries were to go to individual Net Zeros, it seems evident that many developing countries would not have “Net Zero” by 2050. This is because many developing countries will be peaking later, given their Nationally Determined path of sustainable development. China, for example, has said that they have Net Zero only in 2060. Saudi Arabia has also recently indicated 2060. So when we reach 2050, there will be some developing countries which will actually do a “Net Plus” at that point. Therefore to compensate for “Net Plus” in 2050 there should be some developed countries doing “Net Minus”, if we truly believe that carbon space is limited. Consequently, we are looking at vacation of carbon space in 2050 by developed countries to accommodate Net Plus by developing countries. Therefore, concept of Net Zero needs to be redefined and we should be aiming at “Global Net Zero” and not individual Net Zero. Such a concept will be in tune with the principle of CBDR and of equity, as well as accommodate the reality of developing countries peaking later than developed countries. Even the recently concluded Quad Summit in Washington DC has called for global Net-Zero, not individual.
iv) Further, there still exists a large gap to achieve commitment by developed countries to provide US Dollars 100 billion for climate action. This amount is less than the amount earned by US National Football League on media rights! Yet we are struggling to raise US$ 100 billion, though we claim its an existential issue! Therefore, its time we got serious about climate action, particularly the developed countries. This is only way Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and others can truly adapt and cope with the climate change, sea-level rise etc.
v) We need to desist from cherry picking from the inclusive and comprehensive structure we have built around UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, which all member-states have negotiated and subscribed to. A few should not decide for all. India will not favour any attempts which go against a member-state driven process and are not in the interest of developing countries.
13. India has taken concrete action in many areas. Key climate action initiatives include: popularisation of LED lights that saves 38 million tons of Carbon Dioxide emissions per year; efforts to eliminate single-use plastics; restoration of 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030 that will function as carbon sinks. India ranks 4th in terms of installed renewable energy, installed wind power capacity and 5th in solar energy - an increase of 13 times in the last six years. The government is supporting adaptation actions of our states through the National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change.
14. India is tapping into low carbon sunrise sectors, new technology frontiers such as green hydrogen, new business models such as digitalised services & EV charging; new construction materials like low-carbon cement and recycled plastic; and promoting circular economy and new practices for sustainable agriculture and food systems.
15. Our Minister for New and Renewable Energy represented India at the High-level Dialogue held by UN Secretary General, where India was chosen as one of the Global Champions for Energy Transition.
16. We are also working with the international community including through our own international Initiatives like International Solar Alliance (ISA) and Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI). The International Solar Alliance is growing by the day. India has also pledged US$ 1.6 billion as soft loan for solar projects abroad. CDRI, launched in 2019 brings together technical expertise from a multitude of stakeholders to assist countries to upgrade their capacities and practices, with regard to disaster resilient infrastructure development. CDRI now has 25 countries and 7 international organizations as its members.
17. In 2019, India along with Sweden, launched The Leadership Group for Industry Transition and it continues to bring in countries (16) and private companies (18) that are committed to achieve the Paris Agreement.
Friends,
18. On another note, I would also like to point out that South-South cooperation is making a vital contribution to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. India has been at the forefront of South-South cooperation. We have enhanced our development partnership with developing countries and we have given and pledged more than US$ 30 billion as Lines of Credit, several billions as grant assistance and one of the largest capacity building assistance in ITEC. In 2017, India established the US$ 150 million India-UN Development Partnership Fund at the UN to provide support to projects in developing countries that aim to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs, especially by assisting Small Island Developing States in the Pacific and Caribbean.
Friends,
19. As you may all be aware, India is currently in the Security council for a two year tenure. With an independent foreign policy, we have played a constructive bridging role so far. We just had our Presidency in August where we had high level events on maritime security, UN peacekeeping and counter terrorism. We will continue to play a role in supporting developing countries and be their voice in UNSC.
20. Your actions will make a difference to our achievements of SDGs. I have no doubt about that. What you do here helps not only in creating awareness but also building a larger constituency for SDGs and helps localising it.
21. I once again commend the Principal and faculty of MOP Vaishnav and all the students for participating in this event with great enthusiasm and commitment. In your commitment lies the future of India.
I thank you.
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