Jacob Koshy, The Hindu
India will not be bound by curbs on energy use: Environment Secretary
At COP28, India was conspicuously absent from a list of 118 countries signed on to a pledge to triple installed renewable energy capacity by 2030.
India has also reiterated its right to use coal on the grounds that its historical contribution to the carbon crisis has been negligible, as below-global-average per-capita emissions of 4%.
India’s GHG emission:
According to India’s latest communications to the United Nations, its greenhouse gas emissions increased 4% from 2016-2019 to 2.6 billion tonnes of C02. The energy sector contributed the most to the overall anthropogenic emissions (75.81%), followed by the agriculture sector (13.44%), Industrial Process and Product Use (IPPU) sector (8.41%), and Waste (2.34%).
‘COP28 UAE Declaration on Climate and Health’:
The COP28 Presidency, in partnership with the World Health Organization and UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention, unveiled the ‘COP28 UAE Declaration on Climate and Health’ to place health at the heart of climate action and accelerate the development of climate-resilient, sustainable and equitable health systems.
A set of new finance commitments on climate and health was announced to back up these political commitments, including a USD 300 million commitment by the Global Fund to prepare health systems, USD 100 million by the Rockefeller Foundation to scale up climate and health solutions, and an announcement by the UK Government of up to GBP 54 million. The Declaration is announced ahead of the first ever Health Day at a COP and joins a series of announcements made during the World Climate Action Summit to keep 1.5C within reach.
Endorsed by 123 countries, the Declaration marks a world first in governments acknowledging the growing health impacts of climate change on communities and countries. It also acknowledges the large benefits to people’s health from stronger climate action, including by reducing air pollution and lowering health care costs.
India has not signed this pledge as well.
Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge:
The pledge says that renewables deployment must be accompanied in this decade by a rapid increase of energy efficiency improvements and the phase down of unabated coal power, in particular, ending the continued investment in unabated new coal-fired power plants.
Photo: Environment Secretary Leena Nandan at the release of a publication on “India’s journey towards sustainable cooling” at the India Pavilion during the COP28 meeting in Dubai, 3 December 2023. Source: PIB.
| Themes |
| • Climate change • Environment (Sustainable) • International • National |
