India’s 5-point road map made during COP-26

Subject – Environment

Context – India’s 5-point road map made during COP-26

Concept –

Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed a five-fold strategy for India to play its part in helping the world get closer to 1.5 degrees Celsius on the first day of the global climate meet in Glasgow.
The prime minister euphemistically termed his scheme as ‘Panchamrita’ meaning the ‘five ambrosia’.
‘Panchamrita’ is a traditional method of mixing five natural foods — milk, ghee, curd, honey and jaggery. These are used in Hindu and Jain worship rituals. It is also used as a technique in Ayurveda.

1-billion-tonne emissions cut

The most substantive new commitment, relates to the 1-billion-tonne reduction in its total projected emissions from now until 2030. This is the first time that India has taken any climate target in terms of its absolute emissions.
Though it’s not a direct emission reduction target, something that only developed countries are expected to take, the reduction marks a major step towards bending India’s emissions trajectory.
According to the World Resources Institute, India’s total greenhouse gas emissions were about 3.3 billion tonnes in 2018. It’s projected to rise above 4 billion tonnes per year by 2030.
That would mean between now and 2030, India could be emitting anywhere between 35 to 40 billion tonnes at the current rates of growth.
- Cutting 1 billion tonnes would, therefore, represent a reduction of 2.5 to 3 per cent in its absolute emissions in the business-as-usual scenario in the next nine years.

Net-Zero Target –

Net Zero is a state in which a country’s total emissions are offset by absorptions of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, like that done by trees and forests, and physical removal of carbon dioxide through futuristic technologies.
More than 70 countries have promised to become Net Zero by the middle of the century, and this is being considered vital for meeting the Paris Agreement goal of keeping global temperatures within 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial times.

Earlier targets by India –

In its climate action plan submitted under the Paris Agreement, India had promised to reduce its emissions intensity, or emissions per unit of GDP, by 33 to 35 per cent by the year 2030 compared to 2005 levels.
- New target – India has committed to reduce carbon intensity to less than 45% by 2030.
Two years ago, Modi, speaking at a climate meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, said India would take up its installed capacity of renewable energy to 450 GW by 2030.
- New target – installed capacity of renewable energy to 500 GW by 2030.
- The increase in proportion of renewable energy sources in India’s electricity generation to 50 per cent is a natural corollary of this.
  - As of now, India was already targeting 40 per cent electricity production through non-fossil fuel sources by 2030.