AIR Spotlight - India’s Roadmap at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow

AIR Spotlight is an insightful program featured daily on the All India Radio Newsonair. In this program, many eminent panellists discuss issues of importance which can be quite helpful in IAS exam preparation. In this article, the topic of discussion is India’s roadmap at the COP26 Summit at Glasgow.

Participants:

1. C. K. Varshney, Environmentalist 
2. Sanjay Jha, Journalist

Context:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made big bold plays at the Glasgow summit and said India will go carbon neutral by 2070. Five targets have been set and this article will discuss them in detail.

Introduction:

• Prime Minister Modi presented his five-point agenda, which he called the five ‘Amrit tattva’ (nectar elements) while delivering the ‘National Statement’ at the COP-26 conference in Glasgow, Scotland.
• Representing India at the ‘High-Level Segment for Heads of States and Government’ at the UN COP26 at Glasgow, UK, the Prime Minister said that India is working very hard on tackling climate change-related issues. 

Key takeaways:

The important agendas set by Prime Minister Modi are discussed below:

Net Zero Emission:

• India would become carbon neutral and achieve net-zero emissions by the year 2070.
• This is a historic step taken by PM Modi which shows India’s ambition when it comes to fighting climate change. Despite being a developing country, India shows the way when it comes to safeguarding planet earth. 

Reducing carbon emissions and intensity: 

• PM Modi announced that India will reduce 1 billion tonnes of carbon emissions from the total projected emissions by 2030. 
• India will also reduce carbon intensity by 45% in its economy.

Renewable energy: 

• When India took the ambitious pledge of achieving 450 GW installed capacity by 2030 through non-fossil fuel sources, it was seen as over-ambitious. 
• Now, India is not only on track to achieve this target, but has decided to further raise it to 500 GW. India has also pledged to fulfill 50% of its energy requirements from renewables by 2030.

Climate Finance & Tech Transfer as an imperative: 

• PM gave a clear message to developed countries that just like India has raised its ambition in setting its targets, they also need to raise ambitions in climate finance & tech transfer. 
• The world cannot achieve newer targets with old goals of climate finance. The PM also called upon developed economies to make $1 trillion available for climate financing.

Lifestyle:

• PM Modi’s mantra of Lifestyle For Environment is inspired by Indian culture and Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings to ensure peaceful existence with nature.

Climate Justice:

• The Paris Agreement goals and carbon neutrality cannot be achieved unless the ecological systems are maintained, improved, and supported because 50 percent of the emissions are absorbed by the oceans, forests, wetlands, grasslands, and other natural ecosystems.
• It will be difficult to achieve neutrality unless there is a commitment to creating net-zero loss of biodiversity. 
• This has to be an important ingredient in achieving the net-zero emissions that the countries are trying to pose.
• Justice would truly be served if pressure is put on those countries that have not lived up to their climate finance commitments.

India and Climate Change:

• India constitutes 17 percent of the global population and India’s contribution to the emission has only been 5 percent. 
• But today, the entire world admits that India is the only major economy that has delivered on the Paris Agreement in letter and spirit. Most of the countries have dragged their feet. 
• The United States is one such country that has withdrawn itself from climate change, only now they have entered. 
• The track record of India shows that it has been serious about climate change and it is making every effort to meet the commitments. India has taken several steps to mitigate climate change:
  • International Solar Alliance
  • Disaster risk reduction alliance that is proposed by the Prime Minister to pull the resources of the countries to meet emergency situations such as natural disasters.
• Climate change can only be tackled if it is taken into account globally.

Conclusion:

India has introduced multi-faceted initiatives to mitigate climate change. From the world’s largest railway carrier becoming Net-Zero by 2030 to saving 40 billion tonnes of emission through LEDs, India is putting climate change at the centre of its policies.

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