India’s Five-Pronged Strategy to Combat Climate Change
Unveiling India’s multi-faceted approach to tackle climate crisis
Global Warming — One of the most aggressively discussed topics throughout the globe and yet I believe we do not discuss the individual contributions of each country enough. This is a crucial aspect because each country has its own unique challenges, responsibilities, and opportunities when it comes to mitigating climate change. Events like COP28 and Mission Planet are making headlines each day, but the specificities of what each country is doing may not be readily apparent to the general public. Being said that, India is making waves with its unburnt efforts to combat the crisis of climate change.
One can always average out the causes for the global climate crisis but dealing with the problem on a country level includes understanding their individual contribution to this problem and finding/ implementing solutions for it. Let’s start by briefly acknowledging the contributors for India in a visualized way.
India’s vast and varied landscapes paint a mosaic of climate change challenges. From the towering peaks of the Himalayas in the north to the lush forests of the Western Ghats in the southwest, and from the fertile plains of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta in the east to the pristine coastline along the Arabian Sea in the west, India’s geography encompasses a wide range of landscapes and ecosystems. Each region faces its own set of climate-related issues, including melting glaciers in the Himalayas, heatwaves in the central plains, biodiversity loss in the Western Ghats, and rising sea levels along the coast. These challenges have far-reaching socio-economic impacts, affecting everything from agriculture and infrastructure to healthcare and energy.
Severe weather changes disrupt crop cycles leaving the agriculture sector and its allies in complete chaos. This is followed by a rise in inflation in the urban areas and a loss of economy in the rural. The effects of global warming are also very so visible in the healthcare sector where due to decreasing air quality, respiratory issues have become quite common. Heat strokes leave deadly impacts over northwestern India and nutritional deficiencies are taking over vulnerable groups such as the elderly and children. This pulses the overall healthcare costs, stripping patients of the required quality treatments. Cost cover over damaged infrastructure, energy crisis, landslides, and rising sea water levels are some of the other domino effects included. In hindsight, the list is vast, anything and everything we interact with has had some negative effects due to climate change.
The Strategy
India surely has had its fair share of troubles coming up with plans to combat climate change. Due to its vast diversity, addressing this issue requires tailored approaches at both the national and state levels. The central government has introduced numerous schemes at both national and international levels to promote the use of clean energy. Additionally, it has formed coalitions to develop and enhance the manufacturing and employment of renewable resources. In terms of strategy and approach, the government has adopted an organized framework for addressing the issue, known as the “panchamrit” approach.
‘Panchamrit’, or, a sacred mixture made of five ingredients as referenced by the Hindu culture, streamlines the complexities of climate change by integrating five key components: energy, agriculture, water, waste, and biodiversity. Through targeted attention to these sectors, it endeavors to address climate challenges with precision and effectiveness. Following are the 5 proposed components of panchamrit.
Reach 500 GW Non-fossil energy capacity by 2030.
To put it simply, the energy capacity of a country is like a fuel tank in a car, but for the whole nation. It is the amount of energy a country can produce and use at any given time. The higher the energy capacity, the more resilient a country is to meet its energy needs, especially during times of high demand or emergencies. At present, the nation’s electricity generation capacity stands at 409 GW, with non-fossil fuel sources contributing 173 GW, comprising approximately 42% of the total capacity. Considering the expedited development timeline of wind and solar projects compared to the required transmission infrastructure, the Ministry for Power and New & Renewable Energy introduced a comprehensive plan at the end of 2022 titled “Transmission System for Integration of over 500 GW RE Capacity by 2030.” This initiative aims to ensure efficient integration of renewable energy capacity into the grid, fostering the transition towards a cleaner and more sustainable energy future.
50% of its energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030.
Currently (2024) India’s almost 50% of energy requirements are met through coal or fossil-based energy sources. The panchamrit aims to bring down these numbers significantly and replace our major energy sources with renewable energy. As predicted by the Ministry of Coal Department of the country, the demand and dependency on coal is going to peak this decade, alongside it, the carbon footprint. As promised, the government is working to expand their renewable energy distribution but will that be enough if coal production increases as well? This is being heavily debated globally and whilst some laud the Modi-led government, others label it as faux promises and hollow words.
Reduction of total projected carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes from now to 2030
The UN Environment Programme’s annual Emissions Gap Report stresses the urgency of reducing projected 2030 emissions by 28–42% from current policy trajectories to meet the Paris Agreement’s goals of limiting global warming to 2°C and 1.5°C. Titled “Broken Record: Temperatures hit new highs, yet world fails to cut emissions (again),” the report warns that without more substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions this decade, the world could face a global average temperature increase of 2.5–2.9°C above pre-industrial levels. India has seen a remarkable 33% drop in greenhouse emissions over 14 years, surpassing expectations, as renewable energy production surged and forest coverage expanded. Notably, emissions intensity decreased by 33% from 2005 to 2019, with an accelerated reduction rate of 3% annually from 2016 to 2019, largely attributed to government initiatives promoting renewables. The substantial increase in forest cover and schemes targeting emissions in various sectors have also contributed to this decline.
Reduction of the carbon intensity of the economy by 45% by 2030, over 2005 levels.
India is making good progress towards reducing emissions intensity, aiming to achieve a 45 percent reduction from 2005 levels. In an official assessment, carried out by Columbia University, energy market experts commented on the carbon intensity levels of India, and how they were already down by 35% compared to the 2005 levels. Their prediction affirms the reduction goals set for 2030, assuming the continued consistency of the nation’s GDP at around 8 percent per annum.
Achieving the target of net zero emissions by 2070
This element stands out as the most controversial within the proposed solution. Like many other nations that have made comparable declarations, India has not yet unveiled the specifics of a roadmap toward achieving net zero emissions. It is worth mentioning that India’s aim to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070 lags behind the targets announced by other top 20 greenhouse gas emitters by at least a decade. It diverges from the Paris Agreement’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, a target advocated by climate activists to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Net zero is achieved by balancing carbon dioxide emissions with removal methods, including nascent carbon capture technologies. Therefore it is pretty evident that India too will have to travel through these roads and invest in technologies that suck out excessive carbon from the environment, afforestation alone may not suffice.
Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State and Environment in a press release(Feb, 2023) was quoted saying, “Climate change is a global collective action problem. India with more than 17% of the global population has contributed only about 4% of the global cumulative greenhouse gas emissions”, official reports from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change back this claim. While this report projects India as not being a heavy contributor in the past, the future and present paint a different picture. With the country undergoing rapid urbanization and industrial growth, energy demand will skyrocket, and so will the emissions.
“India’s projected higher wealth and per capita income by 2070 will facilitate the transition to net-zero emissions,” concluded Vaibhav Chaturvedi, an economist at the climate think-tank Council on Energy, Environment, and Water, during an interview with CNBC. Predicting the next big steps, Chaturvedi added that India will likely target the power sector first, where it has already made significant progress in its push for renewable energy through solar and wind. “The second sector is hydrogen”, he stated. The National Green Hydrogen Mission has already been rolled out by India to establish a production capacity of 5 million metric tons (MMT) of Green Hydrogen each year. Green Hydrogen holds the capability to generate high-temperature heat for large-scale industrial operations without emitting any greenhouse gases.
In broader conclusion, India’s strategic initiatives, coupled with global collaboration and emerging technologies, offer promising pathways toward achieving ambitious climate goals and fostering a greener, more resilient future. And hey, if we can tackle something as monumental as climate change, then figuring out how to fold a fitted sheet should be a breeze, right?
Author’s Note:
When I sit down to write about climate change, I feel like I’m standing at a crossroads. These articles need a ton of facts and figures, and they’re not exactly bedtime stories about acid rain anymore. We’re talking about serious stuff, hoping politicians will finally get the memo. But making all this info digestible for everyone? That’s the real challenge. I try to keep it simple, like explaining things to a fifth-grader, so everyone can understand. My goal? To make climate change less like rocket science and more like a walk in the park. So join me on this adventure — who knows, we might even share a laugh or two along the way.
