Environmental Issues
Source: The Indian Express
Why in News
- India recently announced that it will achieve carbon neutrality by 2070 as part of a five-point action plan that includes reducing emissions by half by 2030.
- This pledge was made by India at the Conference of the Parties (COP) 26 climate summit in Glasgow, where it also urged developed countries to follow through on their promise of climate financing.
- However, India has not submitted an updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change with these commitments (UNFCCC).
Key Points
About:
Net Zero is a situation in which a country's entire emissions are offset by carbon dioxide absorption from the atmosphere, such as that done by trees and forests, as well as physical carbon dioxide removal by futuristic technologies.
More than 70 countries have committed to become Net Zero by the middle of the century, which is seen as critical to fulfilling the Paris Agreement's objective of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels.
India's Net Zero goal of 2070 has silenced its detractors, although it is in line with expectations.
The important thing here is that India eventually yielded and decided to pursue a target, something it had been putting off for a long time.
India vowed to cut its emissions intensity, or emissions per unit of Gross Domestic Product, by 33 to 35 percent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels in its climate action plan presented under the Paris Agreement.
India's Emissions Reduction:
Despite having 17 percent of the world's population, India has the lowest per capita emissions of the world's major economies, releasing only 5% of total emissions.
According to the World Resources Institute, India's total greenhouse gas emissions in 2018 were approximately 3.3 billion tonnes.
It is expected to exceed 4 billion tonnes per year by 2030.
At current rates of growth, India could emit anywhere between 35 and 40 billion tonnes between now and 2030.
In the next nine years, cutting 1 billion tonnes would represent a 2.5 to 3% reduction in absolute emissions in the business-as-usual scenario.
India’s New Renewables Target:
India announced in 2019 that it would increase its installed renewable energy capacity to 450 GW by 2030.
At the time, India's publicly stated goal was 175 GW by 2022.
The installed renewable capacity has been rapidly increasing in recent years, and the increase from 450 GW to 500 GW promised is unlikely to be difficult.
The natural corollary of this is an increase in the proportion of non-fossil fuel energy in the energy mix to 50%.
The majority of new capacity additions in the energy sector are in the renewable and non-fossil fuel sectors.
In fact, India has already stated that it does not intend to build any new coal-fired power plants after 2022.
India had already set a target of producing 40% of its electricity from non-fossil fuels by 2030.
Climate Finance:
However, India's efforts will need to be bolstered by the availability of climate finance from developed countries. This transition will be difficult without foreign capital on favourable terms.
India demands USD 1 trillion in climate finance as soon as possible and will monitor not only climate action but also climate finance delivery.
Most importantly, India has once again called for a change in lifestyle.
Steps Needed to Achieve Net Zero:
- According to the '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 gigatonnes by 2070 in order to achieve net-zero by 2070.
- To achieve net-zero emissions by 2070, India's use of coal, particularly for power generation, would need to be reduced by 99 percent by 2060.
- Crude oil consumption across all sectors will peak by 2050 and then drop by 90% between 2050 and 2070.
- Green hydrogen could contribute 19% of the industrial sector's total energy needs.
