The NDC makes the goal conditional on the availability of international climate finance.ĭay after Modi’s #COP26 speech, still lot of confusion… By its definition, this includes large hydropower, nuclear and bioenergy sources, along with solar and wind. It has now been refined into India meeting “about” 50% of its cumulative installed electric capacity from non-fossil sources. The first element of his speech – for India to meet 50% of its “energy requirements” from “renewable energy” by 2030 – has been clarified, as expected, after causing widespread confusion at the time. Others have been clarified and reduced in their scope. However, not all elements announced by Modi in his Glasgow speech have been included in the update. Non-quantifiable goals in the NDC include Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s call for a global “movement” centred on individual climate responsibility and “sustainable lifestyles” that he calls “ lifestyle for environment” or LIFE.Īnother vague 2030 target is to “adopt a climate-friendly and a cleaner path than the one followed hitherto by others at corresponding level of economic development” – a barb directed at developed countries.Īccording to the Indian government, the update “translates the ‘Panchamrit’ announced at COP26 into enhanced climate targets”. There is still no further clarity on this sink target and the baseline from which this reduction will be calculated (See Land-use change.) “To create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3bn tonnes of CO2-equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.” India’s target for its land and forestry sector remains unchanged from its first NDC: This language is echoed in a letter from India’s environment minister Bhupender Yadav to UN Climate Change, uploaded along with the NDC submission, but is not in the NDC text. Second, the country has pledged to “achieve about 50% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030”.Īn earlier press release released by the Indian government says the goals announced in India’s NDC “do not bind it to any sector-specific mitigation obligation or action”. Other major developing economies, such as China, have used the same metric before. Its pledge, therefore, depends on total emissions and the country’s GDP in 2030. A country with low carbon intensity is running its economy more cleanly than one with a… Read MoreĪn intensity target also gives India the space to avoid an absolute emissions reduction goal, allowing it to continue increasing emissions while growing economically. However, others have said it still needs “ further cuts” to keep the world on track for the 1.5C target.īelow, Carbon Brief reviews India’s new climate plan and the implications for the nation’s energy sector and emissions, as well as its recently introduced policies and the challenges it faces in tackling climate change.Ĭarbon intensity: Carbon intensity is a measure of how much carbon is being emitted per unit of GDP. Three weeks earlier, the Indian government announced that its cabinet had approved the update, thus “translating” the goals set out by prime minister Narendra Modi when announcing his nation’s net-zero by 2070 target at COP26 in Glasgow.īut the government is still yet to submit a long-term strategy that captures its decarbonisation plans and reflect its 2070 net-zero target, something it says it plans to do “ in coming months”.Įxperts and commentators have cautiously welcomed the update, with some saying that India was committing to more than its fair share of the effort required to limit warming. However, this is conditional on the transfer of technology and finance from other countries. It also includes a commitment that around half of its installed electricity generating capacity will be made up of non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. India’s pledge is an update to its first nationally determined contribution (NDC), submitted in 2015, which targeted a 33-35% cut. The world’s third-biggest emitter has committed to reduce the “emissions intensity” of its gross domestic product (GDP) to 45% below 2005 levels by 2030. The new four-page document, which was published on 26 August, arrives two years after the original deadline – and two months before the upcoming UN climate summit COP27 in Egypt. India’s government has, following a long delay, finally submitted an updated climate pledge under the terms of the Paris Agreement.
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