5 questions over India's emission plan at COP27
2 min read . Updated: 16 Nov 2022, 05:52 PM IST
Premium- India has submitted its long-term low-emission development strategy at COP 27, laying down the roadmap to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2070.
What does the long-term strategy entail?
The strategy focuses on low-carbon electricity and transport systems, low-emission industrial systems, carbon mitigation technologies, energy-efficient urban infrastructure, enhanced forest cover, and the economic and financial aspects of low-carbon development. It says India’s mitigation efforts are driven not just by climate-specific policies, but also by broader development choices. For example, it said, India faces other development challenges relating to access to critical services such as sanitation, housing, transport, and managing urban growth and rural opportunities.
Why did India submit a strategy at all?
India is a signatory to the Paris Agreement, under which countries must formulate and communicate long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies (LT-LEDS), taking into account their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances. India’s document says its low-carbon development pathway takes note of the development challenges in the context of climate change, and its own historical traditions and culture that seeks harmony and balance between human society and nature.
You might also like
RIL, Nykaa eye promoter stake in TCNS
Why is GST revenue running ahead of overall economy?
Is there any shine in BHEL outlook?
Does the long-term strategy help India’s global standing?
Releasing the document, Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav said: “With this release, India joins the select list of less than 60 parties that have submitted their LT LEDS to UNFCCC." The document says India has submitted the strategy despite lower historical contribution compared to the global average.
How will India balance climate and growth?
India said its contribution would be as per its feasibility keeping in mind the required economic growth. Energy is essential to erasing India’s development deficits, support the demographic transition and agrarian and urban transition, and infrastructure development. It also mentioned that the extent of decoupling of emissions from growth seen in developed countries is still insufficient in terms of the ambitious emissions reduction required by their historical and current responsibility.
What about the need for climate finance?
The document noted short-comings in climate finance available to developing countries from developed countries, and multilateral development banks and climate funds. It also highlighted the shortcomings in defining, tracking, and reporting international climate finance flows in standardized ways. India further said that climate finance available to the developing world is inadequate to meet either mitigation or adaptation needs as set out in nationally determined contributions.
Elsewhere in Mint
In Opinion, Vivek Kaul says we question the hawks but spare the ultra-soft doves of monetary policy. Rahul Matthan's got a fix for free-speech problem on social media. Niranjan Rajadhyaksha makes a case for MPC to slow down its rate action. Long Story gets into the mad rush for EVs.
