Forum on Paris Climate Agreement
| Event Start Date: 14th July 2016 | Event End Date: 14th July 2016 | Event Venue: Alliance Francaise, Bangalore |
Public Forum on the Paris Climate Change Agreement
Date: July 14, 2016 at 10:00am – 1:00 pm
Venue: Alliance Francaise Auditorium, 108, Thimmaiah Road, Vasant Nagar, Bengaluru – 560052
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About the Discussion
The recently concluded “Paris Agreement” has been widely celebrated. The agreement advances a new principle in climate negotiations in the form of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), from all countries. This departs from modalities under the Kyoto Protocol which prescribed binding emissions reduction targets for developed country parties, based on scientific evidence and historical responsibility, while developing countries were exempt from this requirement. How important a concern then is the question of historical responsibility and fairness in the new agreement?
Analysts have found that national contributions to date under the Paris Agreement do not add up to emissions reduction needed to keep global average temperature rise below 2oC, let alone the 1.5oC that scientists, and the Paris Agreement, underscore. What will it take then for the Paris Agreement to be effective? What are its implications for India and what policy options are available for the country?
This tenuous and qualified nature of the ‘success’ that Paris represents has bolstered long-standing calls to rethink the dominant development model prevalent in most parts of the world today that emphasizes endless economic growth as an end in itself and around which all other social and ecological concerns revolve. How might we engage these concerns given the unique development context of India and the climate change discourse? This public forum is an opportunity to discuss these and other important issues brought to the fore by the Paris Agreement.
About the Speakers
Anshu Bharadwaj is Executive Director of Centre for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), Bangalore and is also a Member of the CSTEP Board. His research interests are in technology and policy options for India’s clean energy. He specialises in computational modelling of energy systems. He is a member of several committees at national and state levels and has made important contributions in clean energy technology policy. He was in the Indian Administrative Service and worked with Government of Karnataka in various capacities for about 15 years.
Gita Sen is Distinguished Professor and Director of the Ramalingaswami Centre on Equity and Social Determinants of Health at the Public Health Foundation of India. She is known for her work on gender and development, focusing on issues of inequality, labour and health. She has combined an academic career with public advocacy and activism as a founder member of DAWN, the network of South-based feminists working on alternatives to dominant development paradigms. Her most recent book is the co-edited volume, The Remaking of Social Contracts: Feminists in a Fierce New World.
Navroz K Dubash is a senior fellow at CPR and coordinator of the Climate Initiative. His research and policy interests include climate change policy and governance, the political economy of energy and water, the regulatory state in the developing world and the role of civil society in global environmental governance. His recent edited books include A Handbook of Climate Change and India: Development, Policy and Governance. He has been a Lead Author and synthesis report author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (AR5), and has served on India’s Expert Committee on Low Carbon Strategies for Inclusive Growth and other national committees on water and energy policy.
Tejal Kanitkar is Assistant Professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and Chairperson of the Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Studies at TISS. Among many publications on climate change and renewable energy, she was the lead author on a report studying the equity aspects of mitigation actions by taking into account historical responsibility of different countries. She teaches courses in Energy and Climate Change Mitigation, Energy Modelling and Quantitative Research Methods at TISS.
About Azim Premji University
Azim Premji University has a clear social purpose – of working towards a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society. The University is committed towards developing outstanding professionals for the education and development sectors in India, conducting contextually relevant research in these fields and strengthening the capacities of existing professionals through high quality continuing education programmes.