Paris Agreement: India says well on course to meet emissions target

Plans under way to switch to clean energy and electric vehicles as millions feel effects of climate change

A general view of the Lodhi Garden on a smoggy morning in New Delhi, India, on December 23, 2020. Reuters

India's efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions to meet the Paris Climate Agreement are already showing results, a government minister said as global warming threatens the future of tens of millions of citizens.

India is the planet's fourth-largest producer of greenhouse gas after China, the United States and the European Union. Together they contributed 55 per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissions over the past decade, according to an Emissions Gap Report from the United Nations Environment Programme.

But India’s environment minister said the country cannot be held accountable for historical damage to the climate, which he blamed on western countries.

“Climate change has not resulted in one day, but is the result of historical actions,” Prakash Javadekar said this month.

Mr Javadekar said India was the only G20 country to meet its commitments, and that its emissions grew by 1.4 per cent in 2019, much lower than the average of 3.3 per cent per year over the past decade.

The South Asian nation is one of the 197 that signed the UN-sponsored Paris Agreement. The 2015 pact requires all parties to make legally binding commitments to reduce greenhouse gases with effect from January 2021 in an attempt to limit global warming to below 2°C, or ideally below 1.5°C.

The world’s second most populous country is under pressure to check its carbon emissions and invest in clean energy as it strives to upgrade and expand infrastructure to meet the needs of 1.3 billion people.

Mr Javadekar said India was acting responsibly and doing everything it could to mitigate the problem. He said its “present emission levels are just 6.8 per cent” of the global output.

India suffers erratic weather patterns triggered by climate change, including extreme heatwaves, widespread drought, scant rainfall, flooding and cyclones. Several Himalayan glaciers, which feed rivers that hundreds of millions of people depend on, are melting at an alarming rate as a result of rising temperatures.

A report by ActionAid International this month said about 63 million people in South Asia will be forced to migrate by 2050 because of the catastrophic effects of climate change, including rising sea levels, poor crops, floods, droughts and cyclones.

About 45 million will be affected in India alone, the development NGO said. Out of 20 million people forced to move by climate change in 2020, 14 million people were in India, it said.

This was a huge commitment and we have already achieved 21 per cent

India, which suffers from an energy deficit, struggles to balance its energy and developmental needs with observing its environmental commitments. It has promised to take measures to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 33 per cent to 35 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030.

“This was a huge commitment and we have already achieved 21 per cent ... the remaining 12 per cent to 13 per cent will be achieved in the next 10 years,” Mr Javadekar said.

India also set a target of generating about 40 per cent of its electricity from non-fossil-fuel-based energy resources and creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes through forest cover over the next 10 years.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government launched several initiatives to fight climate change, including a national clean air programme, projects aimed at conserving rivers and water bodies, increasing forest cover and strengthening renewable energy sources.

Mr Modi launched schemes to provide cooking gas to seven million households that previously used firewood and coal.

The government also plans to shut down old and polluting thermal power plants and invest in cleaner technology for coal-powered plants.

Experts said the results of these efforts were visible.

"India's forest cover has considerably increased – per satellite imagery – and because of the enhancement of so much greenery and biomass, we have already achieved greenhouse gas reduction through carbon sequestration and through [carbon sinking]," Srikanta Panigrahi, a leading policymaker and director general of the Indian Institute of Sustainable Development think tank, told The National.

Carbon sequestration is a method of capturing atmospheric carbon dioxide through forestation and other techniques to slow or reduce climate change.

Mr Modi was instrumental in bringing together 75 “sunshine” countries for the International Solar Alliance, an intergovernmental treaty to harness the Sun as a source of clean energy.

India set a target of installing 175 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2022, comprised of 100GW from solar, 60GW from wind, 10GW from biopower and 5GW from hydropower.

The government is creating infrastructure and providing tax breaks to encourage a switch to electric vehicles. Electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers will be mandatory by 2025 and 2023 respectively, with a target of making 30 per cent of the country's estimated 250 million vehicles electric by 2030.

“India is working on an aggressive national climate policy framework with a great thrust on solar and offshore energy, small hydro programme of 25GW, biomass, biogas and other popular renewable energy initiatives,” Dr Panigrahi said.

Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist, said millions of Indians will bear the consequences if countries continue to bicker over responsibility for global climate change.

"It is way past time that we all take responsibility for the situation and move together in terms of reducing our emissions," Mr Koll told The National.

"India has a huge opportunity in investing and becoming a lead player for renewable energy in the face of climate change," he said.