Looking back at human past, can we be certain as to how the Geopolitics work?
With Climate change engulfing a fragile human body from all sides, can we expect a better consonance among different Nations, already facing the wrath of the biggest evil created by Man.
Can we expect a dedicated and concentric approach to impose the Climate action or stay aloof and divided as we had been all along?
With continuously evolving climate that’s plunging the humanity towards extinction, the worldly strategy even for implementing the very constant goals it created, will have to change with time.
And since the global carbon system is an inter-connected, interlocked one. To undo the wrongs done, there is a greater need for climate consensus.
While we remain surrounded with the conflicts of Interests, wars and competitions to trade and emerge as global power, there is a need to use this evil as an opportunity. There is still room for similar interests, solutions for clearing the set of similar problems and so on.
For instance, the climate diplomacy use by India (still shaping up) is equivalent to America’s soft power used during the cold war period.
The gradual yet forcefully well-crafted Climate crisis:
It seems that humanity doesn’t need clarion calls anymore, the impacts of climate change have become more pronounced than ever now: the increasing heatwaves, wildfires, landslides, ice melt and sea-level rise, floods etc., all tell the same story that something is not right.
Actually, nothing was ever right.
While humanity was obsessed with Industrial revolution in Britain or Green revolution in India, violent conquests in Yemen or Afghanistan or the very nuclear testing in Korea.
While India battled the pandemic during beginning of summers 2021, a part of humanity faced the Nature’s wrath in some other forms.
Majority of our well-crafted visions turned out to be myopic.
Due to ecological disturbances and transformations, the natural catastrophes have acquired the tendency to occur unexpectedly, on an unprecedented scale and at various locations of the Earth.
The instances of wildfires and heatwaves in the world’s coldest known geographies like the Russian Siberia, has been threatening already but the greatest burden of climate change and its visible tools, lies in the Arctic.
As per the World climate and security report 2020: “The Arctic is warming nearly twice as fast as the rest of the planet with consecutive record-breaking warm years since 2014.”
“The Arctic is likely to begin experiencing ice-free summers within the next decade, with summers likely to be free of sea-ice by mid century.”
Though the global warming and consequent melting of permafrost has offered the world of several benefits like an alternative trade route through the Arctic or the ways to fulfil energy security of various Nations with expanding energy needs.
While everyone looks to win the race by gratifying its own desires with the abundance of resources that the Arctic offers, it has become extremely important for every country to set Arctic as a priority too.
It can no longer be the sole propriety of the countries in direct contact with its resources like Canada, Norway, Sweden or the ones who can assert their authority there like NATO, Russia or the US.
India, Arctic and the COP26:
COP (Conference of Parties) 26 is the next in line representing virtually almost every nation in the world that hopes to push for consensus needed in Climate action.
Getting India’s support for some significant action will be key to the success of the United Nations-backed COP26 talks for Climate scheduled to happen in November 2021, Glasgow (Scotland).
With stricter action needed, there are already concerns and disagreements amongst members regarding several questions like climate finance, immediate coal phase-out.
A climate advocate explains: “Some of these discussions are frozen—like they were in the 1990s—in this zero-sum finger-pointing dynamic.”
“The reality is we’re all in a lifeboat together, and the lifeboat is in danger of sinking. The politics have not yet shifted to reflect that reality.”
While the time is flying by, we need to ensure a greater stable Arctic that is so tired of balancing things for our survival. Not to forget, India is one of the few Observer nations in the Arctic council.
Though the IPCC’s 6th Assessment Report is quite pessimistic for humanity, we can be hopeful about defending and saving the next fort ready to fall under the crumbling ecology.
Climate change has hence, shown the potential to be the driver of concerns for Arctic and a better voice too when none dares to raise.