India 'underestimating' its ability to achieve major transition to net zero by 2047

Sectoral experts, academics and climate activists, deliberating on multiple issues related to Energy and Finance at the 4th annual Energy Finance Conference India, 2022 organised at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras, have asserted that India should have the national ambition of achieving net zero by 2047 at 100 years of Independence and in time to restrict global warming to 1.5 degrees.
Ajay Shankar, Distinguished Fellow, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), in his keynote address at the Conference, jointly organised by the Centre for Financial Accountability, Indo-German Centre for Sustainability at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and Climate Trends, said, “Even if we don't achieve this, it will accelerate our transition to becoming a globally competitive green manufacturing economy - we could probably achieve it and afford it. There is a paradigm shift in terms of technologies and costs.”
Held at IIT-Madras on December 6-7, 2022 and attended by academics, think-tanks, industry representatives, sectoral experts, students and activists, the discussions were held around India’s energy landscape, public and private players in the energy sector, financing models, challenges in the ESG Framework, Hydrogen Storage, 2nd/3rd Generation Biofuels and Planning Financial Models For Climate Resilience in the Transport sector.
Earlier in August, the Union Cabinet approved India’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement. India also announced its Long-Term Low Greenhouse Gas Emission Development Strategies (LT-LEDS) at COP27 in Sharm-el-Sheikh, which concluded on November 20, 2022.

Additionally, over the course of the year, India announced the Sovereign Bond Framework, The Energy Conservation Act, 2022, (Draft) National Electricity Plan, 2022, Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022, Green Energy Open Access Portal, all of which will have a bearing on India’s transition plans and the needed climate finance.

“The rapidly changing landscape of the energy sector in India has called for a debate discussing the energy requirementsof the country, the financial requirements funding the sector, the public/ private investments, and the challenges hounding the energy sector. We cannot make a mere technocratic transition without taking into account implications on people, resources and ecology. Moreover, we cannot make a transition without the necessary finance. All this needs to be done in the background of the unfolding geopolitical scenario and the political economy,” said Joe Athialy, Executive Director, Centre for Financial Accountability.

CFA and Climate Trends recently released an analysis on the finance flows for coal vs renewables which showed that for the first time in 4 years of tracking, 100% of the value of the project finance loans identified in 2021 went to renewable energy projects. This is a considerable increase compared to 2020, where renewable energy loans accounted for 74%.
There is a growing confidence amongst financiers to invest in renewable projects as opposed to conventional thermal projects given their risks. However, to achieve Net Zero by 2070, India would need an estimated 10 trillion USD. “As the Chair of the G20, India can push the G7 to expand MDB lending for climate finance”, added Utkarsh Patel, Associate Fellow, Climate Change and Energy Transition, CSEP.
Ajay Shankar concluded that, “India tends to underestimate its own ability to achieve major transition. Around 2002-03, IEA reports used to say we have the largest number of people on the planet without electricity access, and will achieve 100% electrification somewhere between 2040-2050. In 2005, India launched a national programme for rural electrification, and we have achieved 100% electrification much before projections. This should give us confidence to achieve energy transition.”

Comments

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.

Powering pollution, heating homes: Why are Delhi residents opposing incineration-based waste management

While going through the 50-odd-page report Burning Waste, Warming Cities? Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Incineration and Urban Heat in Delhi , authored by Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran of the well-known advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability, I came across a reference to Sukhdev Vihar — a place where I lived for almost a decade before moving to Moscow in 1986 as the foreign correspondent of the daily Patriot and weekly Link .

Boeing 787 under scrutiny again after Ahmedabad crash: Whistleblower warnings resurface

A heart-wrenching tragedy has taken place in Ahmedabad. As widely reported, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, currently operated by India’s top tycoon, Gautam Adani. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members. As expected, the crash has led to an outpouring of grief across the country. At the same time, there have been demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Civil Aviation Minister.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Why India’s renewable energy sector struggles under 2,735 compliance hurdles

Recently, during a conversation with an industry representative, I was told how easy it is to set up a startup in Singapore compared to India. This gentleman, who had recently visited Singapore, explained that one of the key reasons Indians living in the Southeast Asian nation prefer establishing startups there is because the government is “extremely supportive” when it comes to obtaining clearances. “They don’t want to shift operations to India due to the large number of bureaucratic hurdles,” he remarked.

Search This Blog