India on track to meet Paris climate deal goals; developed nations must provide finance to reduce emissions, says Centre

New Delhi: India is on track to meet its nationally determined contributions (NDCs) which are compatible with a well below two degree Celsius scenario, the Centre said on Thursday, reiterating that developed nations need to take the lead in climate action including providing climate finance.

Responding to a query raised in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Environment Ashwini Kumar Choubey said climate change is a global collective action problem that has arisen mainly because of the historical emissions by developed countries.

“Climate change is a global collective action problem. Reports from various sources, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), highlight that challenges faced due to global warming are mainly due to cumulative historical and current greenhouse gas emissions of the developed countries,” he said in a written reply.

India is a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), its Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement.

Choubey said the UNFCCC notes that the emissions originating in developing countries, including India, will grow to meet their social and development needs.

“Developed countries have to take the lead in mitigation and provide climate finance, low-cost climate technologies and capacity building. India is on track to meet its Nationally Determined Contributions, which are compatible with a well-below-2C scenario.

“Further, the prime minister at the recent 26th session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 26) presented India’s vision to achieve carbon neutrality by 2070. India, for its part, abides by commitments to the UNFCCC in letter and spirit,” he said.

India with more than 17 per cent of the global population has contributed only about 4 per cent of the global cumulative greenhouse gas emissions between 1850 and 2019, the government has maintained.

“Even though we are not part of the problem, India is committed to being part of the solution and has done far more than its fair share. India has progressively continued decoupling of economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions.

In key sectors of the economy, the mitigation efforts have been undertaken with a vision of low-carbon, sustainable development,” the minister told the House.

Replying to a question on whether the government has issued any notice to the big oil and gas companies and their policy makers regarding the process of making the country carbon free, Choubey said India’s commitment to emission intensity reduction of the economy is an economy-wide target that encompasses various sectors including transport and energy sectors.

The government stands committed to combating climate change through its several programs and schemes. Government has taken a series of measures to enhance energy security and improve efficiency in use of energy for inclusive growth and sustainable development.

“These inter alia include diversification in sources of imports, promotion of alternate fuels, increasing production of oil and gas, substitution of energy demand, improving refinery processes, notification of fuel efficiency norms, etc,” he said.

The Central government has been promoting the use of bio-fuels with multiple objectives of reducing import dependency, generating employment, providing better remuneration to farmers, reduction in environment pollution, etc in line with the National Policy on Biofuels 2018, he added.

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