A fragile climate deal

The deal struck at COP30 in the heart of the Amazon rainforest has been described as a “win for unity,” a rare moment when nearly 200 countries managed to agree on something, even if that “something” was far less than what the world desperately needs. After two weeks of heated negotiations, the summit ended with some productive outcome.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the pact proved that a divided world could still find common ground. Other leaders echoed the sentiment. Just getting all countries on the same page is an achievement in today’s deeply fractured global landscape, especially with the United States staying away from the meeting. However, it is also true that the agreement in its watered down version is not the answer to the existing climate ills of the world, more so, when it has left the question of phasing out of the fossil fuels unaddressed.

This gap between the scale of the global crisis and the slow pace of global action feels painfully familiar to regions like Kashmir, which are already experiencing the fallout of climate change. Kashmir may be thousands of miles away from the Amazon, but it shares one thing with the rainforest: fragility of its environment. The Valley’s environment is changing faster than its people can adapt. Summers are warmer, winters are shrinking, and the once-predictable rhythm of snowfall and rain has become erratic. Glaciers in the upper Himalayas, the source of Kashmir’s rivers, are melting at alarming rates. This, in turn, threatens the agriculture, power generation and even the water supply.

And yet, the places like Kashmir and many other environmentally affected places in the country rarely appear in the global climate conversation. But anyone who lives in the Valley knows how real the threat is. The memory of the devastating 2014 floods has not faded. If anything, each unusually heavy rain revives the fear of yet another deluge. Wetlands that once acted as natural buffers have shrunk. The Jhelum frequently runs higher than it should. But developing countries lack resources to reverse climate change brought on by the powerful economies of the west.

In this context, the only meaningful silver lining from COP30 was the commitment to at least triple adaptation funding for developing nations by 2035. For developing countries like India, and within it the regions like Kashmir, the adaptation isn’t jargon, it’s survival. And unless global promises turn into meaningful action, regions like ours may find themselves running out of time.