India-China Luncheon Lectures – Understanding Sino-Indian climate diplomacy

The ECFR Asia Programme is delighted to invite you to our third online webinar which is part of our virtual luncheon series dedicated to the future of India-China relations.

This webinar series features one prominent Indian speaker each month who will shed light on the various aspects of the Sino-Indian relationship and help to understand what the possible implications are for Europe’s growing engagement in the Indo-Pacific region. For this session, Dr. Dhanasree Jayaram will discuss the future of India-China climate diplomacy and the challenges that are likely to hinder bilateral cooperation.

Climate diplomacy is a cornerstone of foreign policies and geopolitical strategies of both China and India. Since the 2009 Copenhagen Summit, the two countries have stepped up the climate commitments by announcing voluntary targets (before the Paris Agreement) and advancing renewable energy goals; and in China’s case, by declaring targets for peaking carbon dioxide emissions (2030) and reaching carbon neutrality (2060). Both these countries have been cooperating in multilateral climate-related platforms – including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – through groups such as BASIC to promote equity and climate justice. At the same time, they have developed divergent positions on various issues over the years, which are driven by geopolitical vectors (including the border conflict, among other factors). In this context, the talk will analyze the emergence of, and roles played by China and India in the international climate order, by focusing on the convergences and divergences in their positions and approaches towards climate diplomacy and notions of global climate governance, particularly since 2009. Besides reflecting upon the national policies that are tied to their Paris goals, the presentation will also look into bilateral diplomacy in the climate change domain between the two countries. It will delve into the strategies adopted by them to coordinate climate diplomacy with other major powers such as the US and EU, as well as the developing world. Lastly, the talk will explore the future of India-China climate diplomacy and the challenges that are likely to hinder bilateral cooperation.

Dr. Dhanasree Jayaram is an Assistant Professor, Department of Geopolitics and International Relations, and Co-coordinator, Centre for Climate Studies, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Karnataka, India. She is also a Research Fellow, Earth System Governance; Member, Climate Security Expert Network; and Member, Planet Politics Institute. She holds a PhD in Geopolitics and International Relations from MAHE. She pursued a visiting fellowship (Erasmus Mundus – short-term PhD) at Leiden University, the Netherlands during 2014-15; and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, under the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship during 2018-19. She managed a project of adelphi (Berlin) on “Climate Diplomacy”, sponsored by the German Federal Foreign Office during 2015-20.She is the author of “Breaking out of the Green House: Indian Leadership in Times of Environmental Change” (2012), and “Climate Diplomacy and Emerging Economies: India as a Case Study” (2021).

The debate will be recorded and held in English. If you have any questions about this event, please contact [email protected].