Economic Survey: India on track to create additional carbon sink through forest cover

New Delhi: India has made significant progress in climate action, creating a carbon sink of 1.97 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent between 2005 and 2019, according to the Economic Survey tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday. 

The country is aiming for 2.5 to 3.0 billion tonnes by 2030 and is on track to create the additional carbon sink through tree and forest cover, said the survey tabled by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. 

Carbon sinks are natural or artificial things that absorb more greenhouse gases than they release. Examples of carbon sinks are plants, soil and the oceans. They are vital to mitigate human-induced climate change, in particular when oceans and forests are healthy. 

Energy saving target

Under the national mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency, India has implemented the Perform Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme, which covers sectors like aluminium, cement, chlor-alkali, iron & steel, pulp & paper, and textile, with a total energy saving target of 0.3370 million tonnes of oil equivalent (MTOE) for the period between 2023-24 and 2025-26. 

This PAT scheme has resulted in significant energy savings and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

India has surpassed most targets of the first nationally determined contribution (NDC) well in advance. For instance, the country achieved 40% cumulative electrical power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy sources in 2021 and reduced the emission intensity of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 33% between 2005 and 2019, which is ahead of the target year of 2030.

The NDC was further updated in August 2022. The target to reduce the emissions intensity of India’s GDP was enhanced to 45% from the earlier 33-35% by 2030 from 2005, and the target on cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources increased to 50% earlier 40% by 2030.

India has also made progress in increasing its installed solar power capacity, the survey said. As of 30 April, 2023, the cumulative solar power capacity reached 82.64 GW, with an addition of 15.03 GW in 2023-24.

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India’s GDP between 2005 and 2019 grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 7%, whereas the emissions grew at a lower CAGR of about 4%. This shows that India has successfully decoupled its economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions, reducing the emission intensity of its GDP.

A recent report by the International Finance Corporation recognises India’s efforts to achieve committed climate actions, highlighting that it is the only G20 nation in line with 2-degree centigrade warming. Notably, these outcomes have been achieved primarily through domestic resources, which have predominantly formed the basis of India’s climate action.

Given the financing needs, estimated at $2.5 trillion (at 2014-15 prices) for meeting the NDC targets till 2030, access to finance and technology at a reasonable cost, including from the developed countries, as mandated by the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement, is essential to ease the constraint on the required resources.

Mobility issues

However, more is required. Energy transition and mobility issues require attention in resource dependence on hostile nations, recognition of the opportunity cost of tying up land in a land-scarce country, impairment to bank balance sheets from the stranded assets and examination of the merits of alternative mobility solutions such as public transportation models, among others, highlighted economic survey.

According to a new pre-print paper available on the arXiv server, despite relatively moderate El Niño and global greening at its third highest since records began in the 1980s, land carbon sinks absorbed about 0.44 gigatonnes of carbon in 2023–the lowest level since 2003. Between 2010 and 2022, the average land carbon sink level was almost 5 times higher at 2.04 gigatonnes of carbon per year.

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