Topic: 2025 – Impact of Climate Change on Air Quality
Country: India
Delegate Name: Reni Bejko
The Republic of India recognizes that climate change is becoming, if not already is a major driver of worsening air quality, further worsening the problems that India already faces as a developing and densely populated nation of 1.4 billion individuals. Rising temperatures are greatly accelerating the formation of ground-level ozone, ozone that forms as a result of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) combine to form ozone near the ground, which, in more concentrated amounts, is an irritant to the respiratory system and could cause trouble breathing. The rising temperatures also increase the drastic shifting of monsoon patterns in India, which harms the cycle of natural air pollutant cleansing, as well as a higher risk of droughts, wildfires, and dust storms, which release more pollutants into the air. As climate change continues to affect India’s atmospheric conditions, it has become more and more of a pressing issue for India to view the protection of air quality as critical and to support sustainable development and a healthy environment. India strongly believes that global cooperation in implementing sustainable development practices is necessary to limit the effects caused by the worsening air quality due to climate change.
Climate change is worsening India’s air quality crisis, and the Republic of India believes that the committee must address these core questions in order to come up with adequate solutions for this issue. First, how can nations adapt their infrastructure, transportation, and industrial regulations to reduce air pollution while not harming economic development? And what programs/systems can be put in place to help nations, especially developing ones, to help monitor and respond to worsening air quality and global warming-related pollutant disasters? The Committee must observe which financial and technological systems better support developing nations in the transition to sustainable development and lower emissions. India also urges nations to consider health protections that are equitable, so the low-income families or the elderly will not be more vulnerable than other communities in protection from climate change-caused air pollution.
The Republic of India proposes the reduction of emissions from transportation, the largest source of Nitrous Oxide emissions and indirectly ground-level ozone. This can be limited by the expansion of public transport systems, reducing the number of vehicles on the road and therefore total pollutants released, and the promotion of electric vehicles via incentives such as tax benefits. India also proposes controlling industrial emissions by enforcing cleaner production technologies, such as shifting from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas to cleaner energy sources such as nuclear, solar, and wind in not just in the industrial sector, but the power sector as well.
India has already attempted to limit the release of air pollutants with the passage of the National Clean Air Programme in 2019, a program aimed to reduce transportation air pollutant emissions by 20-30% through air quality action plans/regulations. The FAME program in India (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles) encouraged the use of EVs by utilizing incentives and supporting more green urban public transport. Applying these two programs on an international level would significantly lower emissions and therefore climate change on air quality.
The Republic of India recognizes the impact of climate change on air quality and calls for fellow nations to discuss and work together to come up with an agreement that will limit the impacts of climate change and emissions and will lead to a healthier environment. The Republic of India is looking forward to collaborating with its fellow UNEP members to create plausible solutions on this topic.
Sources/Works Cited:
Review of the NCAP
Air Pollution and Monsoons
The FAME Program
World Bank – Clean Air in India
Ground-Level Ozone and its threat to India
TERI – solutions for fixing transport poullutants in India
