Climate justice has become a 'dirty word' amid geopolitical shifts: Environmentalist Sunita Narain

Alwar (Raj), Feb 26 (PTI) Environmentalist Sunita Narain said on Wednesday that the concept of climate justice is being undermined as global trade conflicts and political shifts reshape climate action.

Addressing the Centre for Science and Environment's annual Anil Agarwal Dialogue here, the CSE director general said that US President Donald Trump's policies, coupled with economic deglobalization, have turned climate justice into a "dirty word".

Narain said that starting from the 1990s, rich countries shifted industrial production to emerging economies like China and India which allowed rich nations to maintain high consumption levels without cutting their emissions.

Now, as countries are finally forced to act on climate change, backlash is growing.

"There is anger against the government, against renewable energy, against electrification. Trump has only capitalized on this anger," she said.

"They want their jobs back. They say they want manufacturing back. But where will the labour come from? And more importantly, will bringing back manufacturing does not lead to more emissions in their own countries?" Narain said that this has serious implications for the global carbon budget, which is the amount of carbon dioxide the world can emit from 1850 to 2030 to keep temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

"The US, which had a 24 per cent share of the budget, was expected to reduce it to 22 per cent. But with Trump, its share will actually increase. China was at 13 per cent and was expected to rise to 16 per cent. This leaves no space for the rest of the world," she said.

"The appropriation that was done ... There are no apologies about it. The word 'climate justice,' the word 'climate equity' has become a dirty word. But what happens to us? We need to grow, we need to develop, we need more energy. Where will that come from?" She said there was good news on the domestic front, pointing out that in the 2025 Delhi Assembly election, a survey by CSE revealed that voters considered issues like the Yamuna's condition, air quality, and garbage as key factors in their decision to vote out the AAP government.

She said that this marked a shift, as environmental concerns were no longer limited to elite, middle-class neighbourhoods.

A large section of the population now recognized these problems as important, showing that they had become mainstream political issues, she said. PTI GVS ZMN

Source: PTI