New Delhi – Ahead of a United Nations’ meeting that will be held in Paris in December, India has finally submitted its action plan to fight climate change. In the document, the country states its commitment to reduce the intensity of its carbon emissions. India also conveyed as well its intention to boost the share of electricity produced from sources other than fossil fuels to 40 percent by 2030.
The most waited document
In the 38-page submission, the world’s third-largest carbon polluter said it would cut off the rate of emissions relative to gross domestic product by 33-35 percent by 2030 from 2005 levels.
This is a special offer, since a new study released in September showed that burning the current available fossil fuel resources could be enough to melt the Antarctic Ice Sheet, which is equivalent to 58 m. in global sea-level rise.
On the other side, India also promised to put major efforts on reforestation. The country plans to plant new trees to absorb up to 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide by 2030, and laid out plans for adapting to changing weather and temperatures.
Furthermore, India has declared that boosting energy capacity is one of its principal targets. They want to increase current rates by five times in the next years. According to the document, the country will have 175 gigawatts, including solar power, wind, biomass and small hydro-power dams.
This new goal does not come in the way of its plans to cut emission rates from fossil fuel resources, though the government plans to expand coal power to satisfy India’s energy needs.
These efforts have been declared as ambitious and “rooted in Indian reality,” by Climate analyst Samir Saran from the Observer Research Foundation, since at least a fourth of the population have no access to electricity at all.
That is why India has also said that these actions require help, such as the transfer of technology and financing, which is supposed to be delivered by rich countries in order to help mitigate climate change and adapt to its consequences.
What took so long?
According to Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, India held its submission back so it could coordinate its filing with the Indian holiday celebrating Gandhi’s birthday on Friday, who was an environmental enthusiast.
“Our every action will be cleaner than what it was earlier,” Javadekar told reporters, insisting that Indian traditions and culture are already “at one with nature.”
Before India, China and the U.S. are the countries that come first when talking about high carbon emissions. However, as a block, the 28-nation European Union’s emissions are also higher.
These countries are all committed to absolute reduction targets, except for China, which pledged that its emissions would stop growing by 2030.
India has it difficult among all the UN members, since, if the country wants economic growth, they will also have to increase their emissions for decades, as energy demands is rising along with growth.
Maybe that is the reason why Javadekar said industrialized countries should be setting even more ambitious targets than what’s been pledged so far.”The developed world has polluted the world, but we will help even though we are suffering,” he said.
By Friday, 146 nations accounting for 87 percent of global carbon emissions had submitted their pledges.
Source: ABC News