The Glasgow Climate Pact is the first-ever UN climate deal to plan to reduce coal usage. Negotiators from nearly 200 countries have accepted a new climate agreement after the COP26 summit in Glasgow concluded with a deal that recognizes India’s intervention for the world to “phase down”, rather than “phase out” fossil fuels.
In the same event, on November 02, 2021, Prime Minister Modi in his speech shared that India ranks 4th in the world in installed renewable energy capacity. India’s non-fossil fuel energy has increased by more than 25 percent in the last 7 years and now it has reached 40 percent of our energy mix. India has proactively taken the lead in creating the International Solar Alliance, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), and the One Sun, One World, One Sun Grid initiatives as examples of international collaboration to combat climate change.
He also announced five nectars titled, Panchamrit to combat climate change. According to one media article which is possible for India to achieve given its rate and dedication.
What was in the COP26 agreement?
It was agreed countries will meet next year to pledge further cuts to emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) – a greenhouse gas that causes climate change. This is to try to keep temperature rises within 1.5C – which scientists say is required to prevent a “climate catastrophe”.
Carbon markets facilitate the trading of emission reductions. Such a market allows countries, or industries, to earn carbon credits for the emission reductions they make in excess of their targets. These carbon credits can be traded to the highest bidder in exchange for money.
A carbon market existed under Kyoto Protocol but is no longer there because the Protocol itself expired last year. A new market under Paris Agreement is yet to become functional. Developing countries like India, China, or Brazil have large amounts of carbon credits left over because of the lack of demand as many countries abandoned their emission reduction targets. The developing countries wanted their unused carbon credits to be transitioned to the new market, something that the developed nations had been opposing and hence Paris agreement could not reach any conclusion.
Now, the Glasgow Pact has offered some reprieve to the developing nations. It has allowed these carbon credits to be used in meeting countries’ first Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) targets mostly till 2025.
India is currently driving on a difficult road wherein, it has aimed to provide electricity to all its citizen for 24 hours which would require massive energy production. And now, with the new announcements the at least 50 percent of the energy used in this electricity creation should be renewable or non-fossil. On one hand, there is an international commitment that is extremely useful for the whole world but with a lot of technical, infrastructural, and financial hurdles, and, then there is a commitment given to its domestic citizens.
Over here, producing energy through non-fossils is a great step to combat climate change, but the question is about how. Now, the world has attention regarding the choice India tries to make on this fiddly path.
Thus, India should fully make use of carbon markets to get the funds. It should continue to partner with countries working on renewable energy, however, should tap multiple states to set up the plants. The rural employment programme, MGNREGA can be utilised in building the required infrastructure for energy production that would simultaneously provide jobs to people. Large campaigns of setting up solar panels with NGOs can help us to create awareness among people to use renewable energy.
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