The lowdown on India’s Glasgow announcement

Context: Newly unveiled climate commitments at COP26 deserve a close examination.

Benefits of new climate targets by India at COP26

• New targets are indication towards a new climate-oriented development policy.
• Raised climate ambitions represent a welcome continuity of the cross-partisan consensus prevailing since the 2015 Paris Agreement.
• High moral standing: India asserted that although it was not a part of the problem, it was now willing and able to contribute to reduction efforts in global emissions.
• India’s pledge at Glasgow adheres to the Paris Agreement decision to increase emission cuts to tackle the rapidly escalating climate crisis.
• Put ball in court of developed countries: India’s current annual emissions are around 2.8 billion tonnes and projected to reach about 4.5 billion tonnes in 2030 on a BAU basis, so the pledged reduction would be a substantial 20%, comparing favourably with several developed country targets.

Issues with India’s climate commitments at COP26

• Contradictory signals from Government: Interactions that took place before COP26, with India giving no indication of revising its current NDC.
• Questionable secrecy in climate negotiations: India insufficiently communicated the significance of its enhanced commitments, in contrast to the weak pledges of developed countries,
  • Little effort was made to leverage India’s updated pledge to extract deeper emission cuts from developed countries.
• Ramifications of post-facto conditions: India states that the new pledges are contingent upon substantial financial assistance from developed countries, with figures such as $1 trillion.
• Constraints in adopting renewable energy: As India reached only around 101 GW of solar and wind.
  • Adding large hydro and nuclear, current RE installed capacity is about 150 GW or just fewer than 40% of total, almost achieving the NDC target for 2030.
• Difficulty in achieving climate commitments: As India pledged virtually no additional coal-based power. Central Electricity Authority (CEA) ‘s Report on Energy Mix for 2029-30 has projected-
  • 525 GW or 64.3% non-fossil fuel installed capacity including 280 GW Solar and 140 GW wind.
  • Only 267 GW is projected to come from coal and lignite, compared to 203 GW in 2019, so almost all of India’s future growth of capacity is to come from RE.
• Fears of diluting environmental regulations in favour of corporate interests: As India refused to join over 110 countries in a declaration to end deforestation by 2030. 
• Non–mentioning of NDC target for forests and tree cover by India: In which India is known to be slipping, with deleterious impacts on both environment and livelihoods.
• India a did not join the Global Methane Pledge by over 100 nations to reduce emissions of short-lived but potent greenhouse gas by 30% by 2030 from 2020 levels.

Way forward: A truly transformational low-carbon future must embrace many more aspects

• Emphasise on “Lifestyle for Environment (LIFE)”.
• Address deep inequities: India, i.e. vociferous about equity between nations, should seriously addresses the deep inequity in access to energy and other essentials within India.
  • Tackle climate change cross-sectorally: As climate change is not confined to mitigation alone.
  • Accelerated deployment of electric or fuel-cell vehicles must go alongside a rapid reduction in personal vehicle use and a major push for mass transportation.
  • Minimise carbon lock-ins and energy use:  Through mandatory “green” construction codes for future housing and other buildings stock, highways and infrastructure.
• Employment-intensive recycling of waste goods and materials: In solid and liquid waste management linked to methane recovery.
• Initiative like Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS) should be undertaken in India too.
• Cross-partisan multi-stakeholder consultative updating of on-going NDC that would make it truly “nationally determined” and implemented.

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