Historically, India owns less than 5%. the amount of carbon dioxide emissions (US accounts for 20%, more than any other country). “If one wants to distribute carbon money, India can be seen as a real hero,” he said Rahul Tongia, A senior colleague at the Center for Social and Economic Progress in New Delhi.
Regardless, Modi’s announcement was surprising to some researchers, he says Ulka Kelkar, economist and climate director of the World Resources Institute India. The aim is to “raise the bar” from what it has in the past, he says, and few expect zero bail from India at this year’s conference.
The goal was “technically important,” he says Navroz Dubash, professor at the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi. But they see it primarily as a “box to be explored,” as all 10 of Iran’s top producers, and other major economic powers, have made their own promises.
What may be more important, he says, are short-term goals Modi explained. In a statement, Modi promised that by 2030 India would have 500 gigawatts of renewable energy from non-renewable energy sources (including nuclear power) and get 50% of the “energy needed” from renewable energy sources. And it has pledged to reduce India’s carbon footprint by 1 billion metric tons and its carbon emissions (compared to carbon dioxide emissions) by 45%, and by 2030.
Government of India afterwards explained that 50% of the target is electrical power. This means that they do not include, for example, large amounts of energy used in difficult-to-release areas such as transportation. It also concerns power, not age. And there will be less charcoal than some researchers initially anticipate, Dubash explains.