Why in news?

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 26th summit of Conference of Parties (CoP 26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in the Scottish city of Glasgow.
• PM Modi announced that India will achieve a net zero carbon emission by 2070.

Meaning of “Net-Zero Emissions”

• Net Zero Emission refers to achieving an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions taken out of the atmosphere.

Importance of Net-Zero Emissions:

• The greenhouse gases the main contributor to climate change will stay in the atmosphere & these will keep heating the atmosphere for years

Historical burden:

• India’s contributions to cumulative emissions are much smaller than rich Nations.
• Data of carbon dioxide emissions from 1750 to 2018 in billion metric tons shows that India’s emissions are at 51 while that of USA, China, Russia, Germany, UK & Japan stand at 397, 214, 180, 90, 77&58 respectively.

India’s energy mix:

The increasing economic boost and energy needs along with rapid urbanization have put India in atight spot regarding clean energy. India’s energy basket consists of :-

• Nuclear 3%
• Gas 4%
• Renewables 11%
• Hydropower 11%
• Coal 65%

Right now coal is the major source, but India is trying to come up with more renewable energy sources.

Immediate interventions:

• Indian needs to create a legal mandate for climate impact assessment of all activities
• 500 GW renewable target needs major boost through national and international climate funding
• India’s National Hydrogen Mission aims at producing green hydrogen as a clean fuel
• Solid waste management needs to be modernized to curb methane emissions
• Net zero emission needs:- Low carbon technologies Zero emission vehicles Cities promoting walking and cycling
• Consumers should be given right to repair
• Preventing the release of stored carbon in environment

Emissions of India and others:

• India contributes about 7% of today’s global emissions.
• According to World Bank data for the year 2019 per capita emissions in ton are:-

• USA 15.5
• UK 5.5
• China 8.1
• Russia 12.5
• India 1.9

• Projectedper capita emissions is 2.4 tonfor India under Paris agreement
• India’sabsolute emissions volume stands third after China and USA
• India had committed itself to a net zero deadline in 2070

Outlook for India’s emissions:

• India GDP per capita is rising.
• There is pressure from absolute rise of population and consumption but population growth is slowing
• There is no indication when India’s emissions will be peak.

Panchamrit by India:

• To raise the non-fossilfuel based energy capacity of the country to 500 GW by 2030
• 50% of the country’s energy requirement would be met using renewable energy sources by 2030
• India will reduce the total projected carbon emissions by 1 billion ton by the 2030
• The carbon intensity of the economy would be reduced to less than 45% by 2030
• India would become Carbon Neutral and achieve net-zero emissions by the year 2070