(The column first appeared in Scroll on November 18, 2021)
- After lengthy deliberations, familiar cycles of recriminations and last-minute compromises, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow concluded on Saturday, leaving much work to be done on fulfilling the main agreement and forging multitudes of deals that will play an essential role in arresting the planet’s warming. At the beginning of the conference, India announced a range of ambitious targets for 2030: to quadruple its clean energy capacity to 500 GW, source 50% of its electricity from renewables, and reduce the emissions intensity – the amount of greenhouse gases released per unit of economic activity – by 45% compared to the 2005 baseline. India also announced a 2070 goal of going net-zero, which means absorbing each unit of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere through carbon sinks. Beyond the bullet points, though, the details are still hazy. India is yet to update its Nationally Determined Contributions and specify the roadmap for how it will work towards accelerating its energy transition…
