INDIA'S TARGET TO REACH CARBON NEUTRALITY BY 2070
Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to cut India’s net carbon emissions to zero by 2070, even as he exhorted developed countries to make available funds to the tune of $1 trillion for climate adaptation and mitigation. Speaking at the Conference of Parties (COP-26) summit in Glasgow, Modi said India, the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, would scale up its non-fossil energy generation capacity to 500GW by 2030, meet 50% of its energy requirements from renewables by the same deadline, bring down its total projected carbon emission by 1 billion tonnes by 2030 and also bring down the carbon intensity of the economy to below 45% by the end of the decade.
With India making such commitments to reduce its carbon footprint, it would need finance and technology to fulfil these targets. India hopes that developed countries make available $1 trillion for climate finance. Modi’s surprise statement announcing India’s commitment to net-zero emission by 2070 may take some pressure off from Asia’s third-largest economy to help stop global warming. In the run-up to Glasgow, India had shown signs of shying away from committing to a date by which it would achieve net-zero and has not updated its Nationally Determined Contributions—pledges given by a country to bring down its GHGs. But with India seeking time till 2070 to achieve net-zero emissions while others have committed to net-zero by 2050 or 2060, Indian negotiators may face some rough weather ahead. US President Joe Biden chided China and Russia for their seemingly less ambitious climate goals. Just days before Glasgow, China had pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060. Recently,
India made this pledge at the Conference of the Parties (COP) 26 climate summit in Glasgow, where it also urged developed countries to deliver on their promise of climate financing. However, India hasn’t submitted an updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs) with these commitments to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) yet.
NET ZERO CARBON EMISSIONS BY 2070
Net Zero is a state in which a country’s total emissions are offset by absorptions of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, like that done by trees and forests, and physical removal of carbon dioxide through futuristic technologies. More than 70 countries have promised to become Net Zero by the middle of the century, and this is being considered vital for meeting the Paris Agreement goal of keeping global temperatures within 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial times. India’s Net Zero target of 2070 silences its critics but it is along expected lines. The big thing here is not the target itself but the fact that India finally relented and decided to take up a target, something it had been holding back on for quite some time. In its climate action plan submitted under the Paris Agreement, India had promised to reduce its emissions intensity, or emissions per unit of Gross Domestic Product, by 33 to 35% by the year 2030 compared to 2005 levels.
REDUCING INDIA'S EMISSIONS
India has the lowest per capita emissions of the world’s major economies -- emitting 5% of the total, despite accounting for 17% of the world’s population. According to the World Resources Institute, India’s total greenhouse gas emissions were about 3.3 billion tonnes in 2018. It’s projected to rise above 4 billion tonnes per year by 2030. That would mean between now and 2030, India could be emitting anywhere between 35 to 40 billion tonnes at the current rates of growth. Cutting 1 billion tonnes would, therefore, represent a reduction of 2.5 to 3% in its absolute emissions in the business-as-usual scenario in the next nine years.
WHAT IS NET ZERO EMISSION
Net-zero emissions refer to the balancing of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, either globally or in a region, with anthropogenic removals of the GHG so that the net effect is zero emissions. The push for such declarations from all countries began around 2019 at COP-25, when there was one year left for the Paris Agreement to come into effect. The very idea of net-zero declarations by individual countries and regions emerged from the need to hide the inaction of developed countries for the past 30 years. Even these declarations for the future are far from adequate to ensure the safety of the planet. The “enhanced pledges” of the US, UK and EU (27) for 2030, and their currently declared intention of achieving net-zero emissions around 2050, imply that just these two major regions will consume over 30% of even the remaining carbon budget. Together with China, they will emit at least 20% more carbon dioxide than is available to the world to limit warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
INDIA'S NEW RENEWABLES TARGET
In 2019 India announced that it would take up its installed capacity of renewable energy to 450 GW by 2030. At that time, India’s publicly stated target was 175 GW by the year 2022. The installed renewable capacity has been growing rapidly in the last few years, and the enhancement as per it’s pledge from 450 GW to 500 GW is not likely to be very challenging. The increase in the proportion of non-fossil fuel energy in the energy mix, to 50% is a natural corollary of this. Most of the new capacity additions in the energy sector are being done in the renewable and non-fossil fuel space. In fact, India has already said it does not plan to start any new coal power plants after 2022. As of now, India was already targeting 40% electricity production through non-fossil fuel sources by 2030.
Climate Finance: India's efforts though will have to be supported by the availability of climate finance from developed countries. Without foreign capital, on concessional terms, this transition will prove to be difficult. India demands USD 1 trillion of climate finance as soon as possible and will monitor not just climate action, but deliver climate finance. Most importantly, India has called, once again, for a change in lifestyles.
STEPS NEEDED TO ACHIEVE NET ZERO
According to the Council on Energy, Environment and Waters implications of a Net-zero Target for India's Sectoral Energy Transitions and Climate Policy' study, India's total installed solar power capacity would need to increase to over 5,600 gigawatts to achieve net-zero by 2070. The usage of coal, especially for power generation, would need to drop by 99% by 2060, for India to achieve net-zero by 2070. Consumption of crude oil, across sectors, would need to peak by 2050 and fall substantially by 90% between 2050 and 2070. Green hydrogen could contribute 19% of the total energy needs of the industrial sector.
CONCLUSION
In accordance with the best available science as compiled by the most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the countries who pledged for Net-Zero Emission must be asked to declare how much of the remaining carbon budget they plan to consume before they reach net-zero. The answer to this question is critical in determining where the world is headed. In this global context, our energy path for the future must be carefully charted, allowing flexibility, while keeping the interests of our poorest and most vulnerable populations at the centre of any pledges we make.
TEST YOURSELF
Q.1 Recently at Conference of the Parties (COP) 26 Climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, India has pledged that it will reach carbon neutrality by ________?
A. 2030
B. 2050
C. 2070: ANSWER
D. 2075
Q.2 Which of the following has led the Indian Delegation at the Conference of the Parties (COP) 26 Climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland?
A. Prime Minister Narendra Modi: ANSWER
B. Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav
C. Jitendra Singh
D. None of the above
Q.3 Which of the following agreements which was an earlier agreement to deal with climate change was replaced by the Paris Agreement?
A. Stockholm Declaration
B. Kyoto Protocol: ANSWER
C. Rome Declaration
D. None of the above
Q.4 Consider the given statements & state which of the following is/are correct in the reference to the above mentioned passage?
I. In 2019 India announced that it would take up its installed capacity of renewable energy to 450 GW by 2030.
II. India demands USD 1 billion of climate finance as soon as possible and will monitor not just climate action, but deliver climate finance.
A. Only I follows: ANSWER
B. Only II follows
C. Both I & II follows
D. None of the above-mentioned
Q.5 UNFCCC which stands for United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has its secretariat located in ___________?
A. Paris, France
B. Washington DC, USA
C. Geneva, Switzerland
D. Bonn, Germany: ANSWER
