As the world’s top producer of CO2, India is a key player in the global fight against climate change.
Its emissions of the greenhouse gas are about 40 per cent of the world average.
But, at the same time, it is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, according to a report released this week.
It is also a major exporter of fossil fuels.
India produces more CO2 than any other country in the world, according the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
This year alone, India will be producing about 9.3 billion tonnes of CO 2 equivalent, more than China and the US combined.
But that is not enough.
India’s CO2 emissions have fallen steadily for the last two decades, partly because of the global recession, partly as a result of increased demand in developing countries, and partly due to a decline in energy-intensive industries, like mining and manufacturing.
That has led to India’s economy being “slow to recover” in the last decade, according a World Bank report released in March.
What India needs to do to avoid a rapid CO2 decline, according its new report, is to boost the use of green energy.
“India’s energy mix is more diversified than the global average and, for the first time in history, it will generate more green energy than it consumes,” says the report.
In fact, the country has more green-energy capacity than any country in Europe.
“We need to shift to more energy-efficient vehicles and appliances, more renewable energy, and to shift towards renewables, especially wind and solar, as the major energy sources of our future,” says Naveen Kumar, India’s chief climate change negotiator, in a press briefing.
So what does this mean for the future?
The report, titled India’s Climate Challenge: A new vision for the 21st century, says India needs “to shift towards more energy efficient vehicles and products, more renewables, and more solar”.
The country needs to shift away from fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas, as well as towards cleaner sources like biomass and biogas, it says.
In addition, the report says India has to be more environmentally responsible.
It wants to make “the transition from fossil fuel consumption to renewable energy in the near term and achieving the necessary balance between fossil fuel use and environmental benefits”.
It calls for a “complete overhaul” of India’s existing power grids, particularly the power sector, in which the country’s largest electricity producers – power plants and coal-fired power plants – account for 80 per cent and 60 per cent respectively of the country, respectively.
The report calls for “a major restructuring of the distribution system and the re-opening of power distribution and distribution network to the public” and also says “there should be more efficient use of the land and water resources, especially for water resources and water treatment”.
And it calls for increased investment in renewable energy.
It also calls for greater focus on climate change adaptation in the energy sector, “to improve resilience and adaptation to the changing climate”.
What does India need to do in order to tackle climate change?
It has already taken some steps in the right direction, the authors say.
The country has been moving towards using renewable energy as its primary source of energy.
According to the World Bank, the number of new solar power plants installed in India has risen from zero in 2011 to 16,500 in 2017.
And the country is one the world leaders in deploying large-scale solar power to help reduce its dependence on coal and oil.
And it is also in the process of implementing a carbon price.
India is also one of only a few countries in the developing world where the government is making significant investments in energy efficiency.
In 2017, India installed more than 100,000 wind turbines, more power plants than any of the other countries, more solar panels than the rest of the developed world combined, and the country also invested in renewable electricity generation capacity, the World Energy Council said in its 2017 report.
But there is a lot more that India needs.
“The report identifies four areas that can be addressed: the supply side, the demand side, policy-relevant sectors, and infrastructure,” Kumar says.
“If India can adopt the policies outlined in the report, then we can do even more.”
How can we do that?
For starters, the government needs to ensure that all sectors are making investments in green technologies and technology-driven solutions.
Kumar also points to India making a big investment in its renewable energy sector.
In a statement to the government, the industry body for the solar industry, the Renewable Energy Association of India, said the government’s decision “will further drive the transformation of the sector”.
India also needs to accelerate the transformation, he said.
The industry body also said that it was looking forward to “closing the gap in India in terms of green investments”.
But Kumar cautions that “the government has to make sure that it can accelerate the process”.