India rejected calls to announce a net zero carbon emissions target this week, ahead of the U.N.’s global climate talks, where world leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be gathered.
Despite mounting international pressure, India’s environment secretary R.P. Gupta announced that net zero was not the solution to the climate crisis, Reuters reported Wednesday.
“It is how much carbon you are going to put in the atmosphere before reaching net zero that is more important,” Gupta reportedly said.
Net zero emissions refer to achieving an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions removed from the atmosphere, through natural means or by using the still nascent carbon capture technology.
After China and the United States, India is the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases and is still largely dependent on fossil fuels like coal and oil. India’s energy demand is expected to rise sharply over the next decade as the economy continues on its growth trajectory.
The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said that to avoid the devastating effects of climate change, the world needs to limit global warming to 1.5°C. And for that to happen, global carbon dioxide emissions would need to reach net zero around 2050.
Earlier this year, the IPCC delivered its starkest warning on climate change. To keep global temperatures from rising beyond 1.5°C or even 2°C above pre-industrial levels, the world needs immediate, rapid, and large-scale reductions in emissions over the next two decades, the panel said in a stern warning.
More than 130 countries, including China, have set — or are considering setting — a target of reducing emissions to net zero over the coming decades.
Modi in Glasgow
Modi will be in Glasgow, Scotland for COP26 — the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties.
He is set to participate in a two-day high-level meeting with world leaders on Monday.
In a pre-departure statement Thursday, Modi said he would share India’s track record on climate action at the meeting.
“I will also highlight the need to comprehensively address climate change issues including equitable distribution of carbon space, support for mitigation and adaptation and resilience building measures, mobilization of finance, technology transfer and importance of sustainable lifestyles for green and inclusive growth,” he said.
At COP26, India will emphasize climate justice and ask wealthier nations to transfer technology and finance needed to help developing countries deal with the fallout from global warming, India’s Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav told The Hindu news outlet this week.
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