The Joint Statement issued by the Prime Ministers of Australia and India after the first in-person IndiaAustralia annual summit appears to be highly encouraging, particularly for green activists. The summit is the result of high-level engagements and exchange programmes that took place over the last few years between the two countries. How seriously the Australian government took the summit becomes evident from the fact that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was accompanied by Minister for Trade and Tourism, Senator Don Farrell, Minister for Resources, Madeleine King, MP, a high-level official delegation and a large business delegation.
In the Joint Statement, the two prime ministers have reaffirmed the strength of the multifaceted bilateral ties that have deepened under the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership established in June 2020 and have exclusively mapped the future plan of action of the two countries about cooperation in the fields of climate, energy and technology
The second section of the Joint Statement is titled “Climate, energy, science, technology and research cooperation.” It has six points, each of which is immensely important for both the countries to fight climate change and its deadening impacts. The second of these six points reads: “Leaders underscored their commitment to encouraging nationally appropriate actions to reduce emissions to address climate change, energy security and job creation, and continuing international collaboration, including through the Quad, the G20, the UNFCCC and International Solar Alliance. They noted the contribution of sustainable consumption and production, and resource-efficient, circular economies towards combating climate change. In this context, Leaders noted the importance of mindful consumption, more sustainable lifestyles and reducing waste. Prime Minister Modi reiterated the call for a global mass movement for sustainable lifestyles that promote mindful consumption and reduce waste.”
The Joint Statement, thus, clearly shows that both countries are keen to take nationally appropriate actions to reduce emissions other than continuing international collaboration to fight climate change. Such a stance seems to be a much needed one as sometimes the environmental activists either focus only on national issues or on international issues, thus pitting the local against the global. The joint statement shows a remarkable balance in this regard to underline that climate change is as much a national/local problem as it is an international/global one. Mr Modi’s call for ‘mindful consumption’ is also a timely one and needs to be appreciated. Individuals, by often putting the responsibility on the political leaders, shrug off their duties in the fight against climate change. The joint statement, without undermining the need for national and international policies to fight climate change, urges individuals to do their bit
In fact, what Mr. Modi says seems to be an echo of Christina Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac. In their Book, The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis (2020), they have recommended ten actions to attain net zero emissions by 2050. Number four of these actions is a call for seeing oneself not as a consumer but as a responsible citizen. It needs to be pointed out here that Christina Figueres was the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change from 2010 and 2016 and also one of the key figures in materializing the most pivotal climate agreement in history, the Paris Agreement of 2015 and that Tom Rivett-Carnac was the President and CEO of the Carbon Disclosure Project, USA, and also a senior political strategist for the Paris Agreement.
Comparing the consumption cycle with the South Indian monkey trap, they have observed: “Such is our relationship with consumption (purchasing, using and throwing away): we know it is trapping us, but it has become so embedded in our psyche ~ to the point of being almost instinctive ~ that we cannot let go.” This is where Mr Modi’s stance on individual consumption is important. If in their book Figueres and Rivett-Carnac have asked individuals to become responsible citizens and better consumers, going one step ahead, Mr Modi has asked them to be ‘mindful’ consumers.
The fourth statement under the category of “Climate, energy, science, technology and research cooperation” is also immensely important. It says, “Leaders noted that the global low carbon transition requires rapid development of clean technologies and equitable access to critical minerals. Leaders reiterated their shared commitment to cooperation on critical minerals and building secure, resilient and sustainable critical minerals supply chains.” The focus on clean energy and critical minerals is welcome. But what about fossil fuels, to be more specific, about coal, in particular? The importance of coal in the Australia-India bilateral trade relationship has increased over the last decade. In Australia, there have been huge protests over Adani’s Carmichael mine and rail Project of Queensland. This project is a thermal coal mine and rail project, designed to transport coal from the Galilee Basin to countries in Asia, including India
The green groups in Australia have been campaigning against this project using the slogan ‘Stop Adani’ and arguing that the project will damage not only the local ancestral culture but also the global green new deal. They have specifically highlighted four points to stop Adani. They argue that Adani’s Carmichael mine will a) destroy the ancestral lands and waters of the Wangan and Jagalingou people without their consent, b) allow 500 more coal ships to travel through the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area every year, c) drain 270 billion litres of Queensland’s precious groundwater, d) risk damaging aquifers of the Great Artesian Basin, and e) add 4.6 billion tonnes of carbon pollution to our atmosphere. The protest was so strong that it became almost the issue in the federal election of Australia in 2019 producing a ‘jobs versus the environment’ fight, the result of which went in favour of the coal-supporting conservative coalition government that was re-elected.
In fact, probably this defeat made Anthony Albanesse (who became the leader of opposition after the defeat of the Labour Party in the 2019 election) support the Adani mine and say in 2020, “It’s a good thing those jobs have been created. I support jobs regardless of where they are.” Adani’s project, in fact, will transport a huge amount of coal to India, a country in which even now 70 per cent of the electricity is generated by using coal as a fossil fuel.
The fight against the climate crisis can never succeed if it gives a relaxation to coal. It is true that the majority of the people in Australia chose jobs over the environment. It could be that most Indians also think the same way. But it is not always possible for common citizens to understand the gravity of the situation pertaining to a crisis like climate change.
The fight against the climate crisis can never succeed if it gives a relaxation to coal. It is true that the majority of the people in Australia chose jobs over the environment. It could be that most Indians also think the same way. But it is not always possible for common citizens to understand the gravity of the situation pertaining to a crisis like climate change.
The silence of the joint statement on the use of fossil fuels, in this context, is ominous. This silence, in fact, seems to be an extension of the support that Albanese has shown earlier for Adani’s mine. It needs to be mentioned here that in the last year Coal India Limited has also issued letters of acceptance for seven new coal projects.
In fact, the use of certain words and phrases such as ‘clean energy,’ ‘renewable energy’ in the Joint Statement are not enough to fight climate change. Mindful consumption will also not be enough to combat this great derangement. The two countries must, in future, unambiguously declare their stance on the use of fossil fuels including coal. The leaders and policy makers of the two counties should seriously consider the warning given by Chomsky: “If profit-making remains the driving force, then we are doomed. It would be the sheerest accident, too remote to consider, for pursuit of profit to somehow magically lead to the termination of such highly profitable activities as production of fossil fuels, or even far lesser forms of destruction.” Mindful consumption and profit-making are indeed mutually exclusive; so are the fight against climate change and capitalism.
The writer is Professor, Department of English and Culture Studies, and Director, Centre for Australian Studies, The University of Burdwan