India’s Climate Change Diplomacy
by Chandrashekhar Dasgupta*
by Chandrashekhar Dasgupta*
Banglore University 23 Aug 2010
I am delighted to have an opportunity to address alumni of the Bangalore University on the subject of climate change and Indian diplomacy. Twenty years ago, most people thought of climate change as an esoteric subject reserved for meteorologists and atmospheric scientists. When I first became deeply involved with climate change issues in 1990, it raised many eyebrows and I was frequently asked why a Foreign Service officer should spend his time on climate change. Indian diplomats today do not have to field such questions. Climate change is recognized as one of the most important global issues confronting humankind. It figures prominently on the agenda of virtually every major international summit.
Nature of the climate change problem
Why is this so? What is the nature of the climate change problem?
Our planet has experienced several cyclical climatic changes over the ages because of the operation of the forces of nature. The current phenomenon of global warming is, however, unprecedented. Its unique feature is that it is not caused by nature but by human activities. Its primary cause is the ever-increasing consumption of hydrocarbon fuels – coal, petroleum and natural gas - since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Combustion of increasing quantities of hydrocarbon fuels has generated a corresponding increase in emissions of carbon dioxide- the main greenhouse gas – into the atmosphere. The build-up, or concentration, of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere is causing the phenomenon of climate change or, in popular terminology, global warming. Unlike the cyclical climatic changes of past eras, the phenomenon we are confronting today has been caused by human beings.
I am delighted to have an opportunity to address alumni of the Bangalore University on the subject of climate change and Indian diplomacy. Twenty years ago, most people thought of climate change as an esoteric subject reserved for meteorologists and atmospheric scientists. When I first became deeply involved with climate change issues in 1990, it raised many eyebrows and I was frequently asked why a Foreign Service officer should spend his time on climate change. Indian diplomats today do not have to field such questions. Climate change is recognized as one of the most important global issues confronting humankind. It figures prominently on the agenda of virtually every major international summit.
Nature of the climate change problem
Why is this so? What is the nature of the climate change problem?
Our planet has experienced several cyclical climatic changes over the ages because of the operation of the forces of nature. The current phenomenon of global warming is, however, unprecedented. Its unique feature is that it is not caused by nature but by human activities. Its primary cause is the ever-increasing consumption of hydrocarbon fuels – coal, petroleum and natural gas - since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Combustion of increasing quantities of hydrocarbon fuels has generated a corresponding increase in emissions of carbon dioxide- the main greenhouse gas – into the atmosphere. The build-up, or concentration, of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere is causing the phenomenon of climate change or, in popular terminology, global warming. Unlike the cyclical climatic changes of past eras, the phenomenon we are confronting today has been caused by human beings.
