Editor’s Note: One of the outcomes of the COP26 conference in Glasgow, Scotland was a pledge by India to reach “net-zero” within 50 years time. Net-zero means that a country or company would compensate for greenhouse gases it emits, bringing the total to zero. India has long been a holdout of promising net-zero. The announcement by Prime Minister Modi to set a target breathed life into the conference. Moreover, it’s significant because India is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases, after China and the United States. It is also noteworthy because as the world’s sixth-largest economy, a shift to a green economy would impact financing.
By Ramsha Zubairi
November 12, 2021 — When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced at the COP26 conference in Glasgow a commitment to reach the target of net-zero by 2070, it came as a welcome surprise. It marked the first time India committed to a net-zero plan.
While India’s net-zero target plan was welcomed at the summit after its long delay, the pledge received a mix of reactions from climate experts and activists.
Reaction to Pledge
First, India’s commitment still remains behind the United States and Europe’s 2050 commitment and China and Saudi Arabia’s 2060 net-zero commitment.
“The date is late, but more important is that India committed to zero at all, which was thought to be unlikely by many,” said Niklas Höhne, in a report for the New Scientist.
Höhne is an expert in climate policy and founding partner of the New Climate Institute, a German non-profit organization.
Second, it showed the impact of international pressure. For Dr. Navroz Dubash, professor at the Center for Policy Research, India’s net-zero commitment lacks significant importance. Dubash expressed his view in a report for The Independent.
“I don’t think that a net-zero pledge, 50 years into the future, will do a whole lot to change what India does today in terms of policy,” said Dubash. “Frankly, you can have a net-zero scenario for any date that you pick and for a rapidly developing country like India, whose future could take many pathways, it is more important to focus on locking-in a low carbon trajectory now through 2030 pledges.”
Near-Term Goals
India’s pledge also includes immediate goals to be accomplished by 2030.
Speaking on those near-term goals, the prime minister said India would:
- Aim to reduce total carbon emissions by one billion tons;
- Derive 50 percent of the total energy requirement of the country through renewable energy components;
- Reduce carbon intensity by 45 percent; and
- Increase non-fossil energy capacity to rhea 500 GW.
As a country that heavily depends on coal for the generation of electricity, and is developing new coal plants, its short-term goals— though achievable—are highly ambitious. Furthermore, they require strategic planning to accomplish.
Climate Finance: A $1 Trillion Ask
Modi urged developed countries to support developing countries through climate finance.
“It is India’s expectation that the world’s developed nations make US$1 trillion available as climate finance as soon as possible,” Modi said at COP26. “While we are all raising our climate action goals, the world’s ambitions on climate finance cannot remain the same as they were at the time of the Paris Agreement.”
At the Paris Agreement signed in 2015, economically developed nations promised to shore up $100 billion a year by 2020 to the developing countries. The public-private funds are meant to go to climate action and methods to adapt to climate change.
Broken Promises
“Developed countries had taken a commitment in 2009 to mobilize $100 billion per year by 2020 for climate action by developing countries,” Chandni Raina, an advisor to India’s Economic Affairs Department, explained in a report by Science Wire.
So far, however, financers have fallen short on the promise.
As UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at the start of the conference, the “deadline has come and gone. And we’ve collectively flunked it.”
No More, No NDC Update
“We will need $1 trillion until 2030 mainly for renewable energy and storage; decarbonization of industrial sector and adaptation,” the Hindustan Times quoted a senior Indian delegate as saying on the condition of anonymity.
“Let’s be clear that India will not update its NDCs until there is clarity on climate finance. We are in no mood to submit them until these issues are resolved,” he further added.
Meanwhile, India released a statement on receiving resources for adapting to climate change.
“Considering the importance of adaptation for developing countries, the resource flow should be equally available for mitigation and adaptation…we seek greater predictability and transparency in respect of the finance flows and believe that appropriate implementation of Article 9.5 (providing information on climate finance being provided by each developed country) of the Paris Agreement including a clear outline of the elements that should go into assessing the climate finance provided, is critical,”
Modi Emphasizes Effect
At COP26, Modi emphasized the consequences of climate change, especially for the agricultural sectors in most developing countries.
“Just like in India, climate change is a big challenge for the agriculture sector in most developing countries. There are changes in the cropping patterns, untimely rains/floods and crops are often destroyed by typhoons,” Modi said at the leaders’ panel.
So while India is making commitments, it is also putting pressure on the developed world to deliver, according to Arunabha Ghosh, the chief executive of CEEW. “India has clearly put the ball in the court of the developed world,” he said in a report in The Guardian.
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