The East influences the climate of the West ‘colonialism’ – Would you be disappointed by that?

This commentary was first published by American Greatness on December 17, 2021

By Vijay Jayaraj

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s explosive comments should not come as a surprise to those who closely follow India and China’s opposition to Western pressure to adopt climate policies contrary to their goals. economic goals of the two countries.

“The Colonial Mindset Hasn’t Gone” speak Modi at a Constitution Day event. “We see from developed countries that the path that makes them develop is closed for developing countries… If we talk about absolute (carbon) cumulative emissions, countries are The rich have emitted more than 15 times since 1850… Emissions per capita are also 11 times that of the US and EU”.

Past Senior Ministers called out the colonial nature of climate politics. This is the first time, however, that Modi has openly reiterated in this context the colonialism of the 18th and 19th centuries when Western countries denied basic rights and autonomy to India and its territories. other land.

Carbon imperialism is not a myth. The economic success of modern Western society is the fruit of an industrial era fueled by fossil fuels. Even in 21^st This century, all major developed economies rely on these fuels for their primary energy needs. Denying similar growth in the developing world is colonialist hypocrisy by which billions of people are dictated by the leaders of the industrializing West.

“Efforts are made to block the path and resources for developing countries, through which developed nations are where they are today,” Modi said. “In previous decades, a web of different terms was swirled around for this. But purpose is always an aim to stop the progress of developing nations. Environmental issues are also being attempted for this purpose. We saw an example of this during the recent COP26 Summit…. Today no country exists as a colony of any other country. (That) does not mean () the end of colonial thinking… However, India is still taught about environmental conservation. ”

Modi also urged Indian activists, policymakers and organizations to endorse the anti-fossil stance. Blaming them for hindering progress, he said, “Sadly, there are people in our country too, who have hindered the development of the nation in the name of free speech. do not understand the aspirations of the nation. Such people do not accept, but mothers who do not have electricity for their children do.”

Modi is right. Hundreds of millions of people in India do not have constant access to electricity. What people in the developed world take for granted is still a luxury for millions here. Mothers do manual labor for long hours, children lack electricity to study, and industries lose millions of dollars to damaged equipment from unreliable power sources. Power outages even hindered medical examination and treatment procedures in rural hospitals. Without reliable electricity, India cannot achieve the rapid economic growth needed to lift 300 million people out of poverty.

Meanwhile, Indians have the lowest per capita carbon emissions. India’s per capita emissions are measured at only 1.91 tons a year (2016) while that of the US is 15.52 and that of Canada is 18.58.

Besides, there is no evidence that global CO2 emissions can cause catastrophic warming. Doomsday predictions are predictions from computer models that have been proven to be faulty. These models (used by UN climate alarmists and others) increase warming many times over because they are designed to very sensitive to human CO2 emissions. So there is no good reason for India to give in to climate pressures from the West.

It took a long time for the leader of 1.3 billion people to criticize the hypocrisy of Western elites and their relentless efforts to deliver energy policy to nations. they are not allowed to vote. However, Modi’s bold move to label Western leaders with “colonial thinking” marks a major turning point in global climate politics.

Vijay Jayaraj is a Research Associate at CO2 Alliance, Arlington, Va., and holds a Master’s degree in environmental science from the University of East Anglia, UK. He resides in Bengaluru, India.