As per the United Nations, 2019 was the second warmest year on record and the end of the warmest decade (2010- 2019) ever recorded. The world is facing repercussions of Climate change with extreme weather conditions. Taking cognizance of the global issues, nations are once again coming together starting this Sunday, the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) begins in Glasgow, the UK. The COP26 summit will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Ahead of the Glasgow Climate Change Conference, here is a look at India’s efforts in saving the environment:
India is a party to the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement. Under the Paris Agreement, countries have submitted their long-term plans for climate action — known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs), including actions they will take to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Countries also have to report their emissions of greenhouse gases to the UNFCCC on a periodic basis.
India has set the target to cut greenhouse gas emissions intensity of its gross domestic product by up to 35 percent by 2030 from 2005 level, increase non-fossil fuel power capacity to 40 percent and to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to three billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.
As per the Climate Transparency Report (2020), released last year, India is the only G20 country whose NDC targets are compatible with the Paris Agreement temperature target of two degrees Celsius.
Also Read: Why is India Irked as Developed Nations Shift Climate Change Target for COP-26
As per the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report, released earlier this week, only ten G20 members, including India, are likely to achieve their original unconditional NDC targets under current policies. Further, India is among the only three member countries who have projected to reduce their emissions to levels at least 15 percent lower than their previous unconditional NDC emissions target levels under current policies. This indicates that India has significant room for raising its NDC ambition.
As per the Union Government data, India’s contribution to historical global cumulative emissions from 1850 to 2017 is only about four percent. It also said that India’s annual and cumulative emissions in both absolute and per capita terms have been significantly low, and far less than its equitable share of the Global Carbon Budget.
In addition, India’s emission intensity of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has reduced by 24 percent between 2005 and 2016 against the pre-2020 voluntary goal of reducing it by 20-25 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. All these were possible due to India’s continued efforts at decoupling growth from emissions.
Between 2015 and 2019, India’s forest and tree cover has increased by around 1.3 million hectares as per the assessments of the Forest Survey of India. The Land Use and Land-Use change sector, under which forests and tree cover are included, removed 15 percent of the country’s carbon dioxide emissions in 2016, amounting to a net removal of about 307.82 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, increasing its status as a sink by 2.2 percent since 2014.
Further, the Union Government has set up an Apex Committee for Implementation of Paris Agreement (AIPA) to coordinate and oversee the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
To increase the use of renewable energy for power generation, India, along with France, had formed the International Solar Alliance (ISA) — an alliance of solar resource rich countries lying fully or partially between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. The ISA was launched on November 30, 2015 in Paris on the side-lines of the 21st Conference of Parties (CoP 21) to the UNFCCC. The ISA Framework Agreement was opened for signature on 15 November 2016 in Marrakech, Morocco, on the side-lines of CoP-22.
As per the Ministry of Power, India has already achieved 38.5 percent installed capacity from renewables July (when the renewable capacity under construction is also accounted for).
As per the Union government data up to June 30, solar power projects of 42,335 MW capacity have been installed in the country. Further, India’s installed solar power capacity has increased by over six times since 2016 when it was 6,762 MW. The Government has set a target of achieving 100 GW of installed solar power capacity by December, 2022. In addition to the installed capacity of 42,335 GW, over 36 GW capacity is under implementation and about 20 GW is under tendering.
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