India to achieve climate goals before schedule: Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan
The Economics TimesDecember 03, 2018Urmi Goswami
Katowice, Poland: India is set to surpass its commitment to increase the share of renewables in its energy generation basket and reduce the amount of carbo dioxide pollution produced for every dollar of GDP by 33 to 35% ahead of 2030.
“In
terms of our commitment we are already on track. This has been
officially acknowledged by the United Nations Environment, all related
stakeholders and agencies. We are already achieving our goals much ahead of the
deadline,” said Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan. India’s national climate
action plans, known in UN parlance as nationally determined contributions
(NDCs), under the Paris Agreement set three major goals—increase the share of
non-fossil fuels to 40% of the total electricity generation capacity, to reduce
the emission intensity of the
economy by 33 to 35% by 2030 from 2005 level, and to create additional carbon
sink of 2.5 -3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and
tree cover.
Independent assessments show
that India’s commitments are keeping with the Paris Agreement goal of keeping
temperature increase to well below 2 degrees Celsius. More recent independent
assessments find that India is likely to meet its goals, particularly on increasing
non-fossil generation capacity and reducing emissions intensity, ahead of the
deadline set by India in its
Paris climate pledges. “We are on our way to achieving our NDC targets much
before the deadlines we had set for ourselves. We are in a position from where
we can over-achieve our targets,” said Environment Secretary CK Mishra.
An analysis by
Australia-based think tank Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis
(IEEFA) finds that India is likely to achieve its energy capacity and emissions
intensity goals by 2020, that is a decade before the deadline of 2030 it set in
its NDC.
On increasing the non-fossil
fuel capacity target, IEEFA estimates that by March 2019, India’s thermal power
capacity will be 226GW or 63% of India’s total of 360GW. At that pace, by the
end of calendar 2019 the share of non-fossil fuel capacity is likely to exceed 40%
. The National Electricity Policy finalised in 2018 forecasts a decline in fossil
fuel capacity from 218GW or 67% of 2017 installed capacity to 264GW or just 43%
of total installed capacity by 2027.
The emissions intensity of
GDP, India has been able to bring it down by 21% below 2005 levels by 2014. At
this average annual rate of 2%, India will meet its Paris goal nearly a decade
ahead of 2030.
However,
as regards the forestry goal, India’s achievements are not as robust. “Our commitment
is to create additional carbon sink of 2.5 -3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent,
given our present pace it may be a little difficult to achieve this target,”
said Mishra. But the situation is being addressed. “We are conscious of this,
so a new strategy has been formulated, and put in place by which between now
and 2030 this pace is going to almost be doubled. This should help meet the
goal.”
A more
detailed analysis of India’s progress on its cliamte goals will be submitted to
the UN climate secretariat in its Biennial Assessment Report. As per the
agreement reached in Cancun in 2020, developing countries are required to
submit an assessment report every two years on the progress made in reducing
emissions. India was slated to release its mandated biennial assessment report
on Monday at the climate meet in Katowice.
However,
this was not Possible as the report is yet to be approved by Cabinet. “The
report is ready, and the technical assessment is over, and I have approved it.
It now requires approval by the Cabinet, after which it will be submitted
within the deadline of December 31,” said environment secretary CK Mishra.
There has
been a rising demand that countries increase their efforts to tackle climate change
and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A demand that has been gaining strength in light of the
mounting evidence and robust assessments that the current nationally determined
climate action would not be sufficient to limit temperature increase to well
below 2 degrees
Celsius let alone the aspirational 1.5 degrees Celsius agreed to in Paris There
is concern in some sectors that overachieving on the NDC goals may lead to increased
pressures on India to revise its 2030 goals under the Paris Agreement. “If
there is a need and if the whole world is acting on it, I can assure you India
will be leading in this
also, “ the minister
said. He stressed that for India tackling climate change “is not merely a technical
issue, for us it is a moral issue, for us it is an issue where we want to
protect the DNA that has been provided by our ancestors”.
India has made it
clear that it is aware of that the world needs to do more and neither did it shy
away from the idea of stepping up its own efforts. “We realise that everyone in
the world needs to do much more than what they are currently committed to
doing, because that is not enough. We hope that all the developed countries
also fulfill their commitments.
This includes their
obligations to provide money and technology to the developing countries, so
that countries like us are able to do much more than we are currently doing,” said
Mishra.
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