Vol.:(0123456789) Jindal Global Law Review https://doi.org/10.1007/s41020-019-00089-y 1 3 ARTICLE Climate consequences: If India sneezes Anjali Jaiswal 1  · Madhura Joshi 1  · Sameer Kwatra 1 © O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) 2019 Abstract The sobering 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s special report shows that the world has a limited window to reduce dire climate change induced conse- quences by restricting temperature rise to 1.5°C. India, one of the largest economies in the world and the third largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter, is critical in this fght against climate change. India is working to address multiple goals of accelerating eco- nomic growth, ensuring energy security, providing reliable energy access, and address- ing climate change while bringing millions of people out of poverty. Despite these challenges, India has an ambitious and achievable plan to address climate change. This article discusses India’s domestic climate actions, progress on climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, and the potential to transition to a low carbon economy. Keywords India · Climate change · Progress on NDCs · India’s energy transition · Low-carbon development · Climate actions · Paris Agreement · Clean energy 1 Introduction As the warning goes, “when Paris sneezes, Europe catches a cold.” 1 The same is true about India and the rest of the world when it comes to climate change. If India sneezes on its climate actions, global warming cannot be contained. The sobering * Anjali Jaiswal ajaiswal@nrdc.org Madhura Joshi mjoshi@nrdc.org Sameer Kwatra skwatra@nrdc.org 1 Natural Resources Defense Council, New York, USA 1 When Paris sneezes, Europe catches a cold” is a metaphor coined by Prince Klemens von Metternich in the wake of the French Revolution of 1848, Philip Mansel, Paris, Court City of the Nineteenth Century, 11 THE COURT HISTORIAN, 15-28 (2014), https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1179/cou.2006.11.1.002; Gombar, V., India’s War on Dirty Air Boosts Hope on Global Emissions, BLOOMBERG NEF (BNEF), (20 Aug., 2018), https://about.bnef.com/blog/gombar-indias-war-dirty-air-boosts-hope-global-emissions/ (March 12, 2019).