3 days Ago By Vishwa Mohan
NEW DELHI: Progressively continuing to decouple its economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions, India reduced the emission intensity of its GDP by 36% in 2020 compared with the 2005 level. Sharing the figure with the UN climate change body earlier this week, India in its 4th biennial submission, said its share of non-fossil sources in the installed electricity generation capacity was 46.5% by Oct 2024 and total installed capacity of renewable power, including large hydro-power, was 203.
2 GW. India's cumulative renewable power installed capacity (excluding large hydro projects) has increased 4.5 times by 35 GW in March 2014 to 156.
25 GW in 2024. The reduction of 36% emission intensity (emission per unit of GDP) in 2020 compared with the 2005 levels keeps India on track to achieve a 45% drop in emission intensity by 2030 which the country committed as part of its climate action nationally determined contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement. The growth also showcases India's steady movement towards achieving another NDC goal by gradually moving to establish 50% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.
India emitted 2,959 million tonnes of CO2 in 2020, excluding the emission due to Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF), and its 75.6% of the total emission came from energy sector, followed by agriculture (13.7%), industrial process and product use (8.
06%) and waste (2.56%). Gas-wise, CO2 emission was the highest (80.
5%), followed by methane (13.3%), nitrous oxide (5.1%) and others (1.
02%). "In 2020, India's forest and tree cover, along with other land use, sequestered approximately 522 million tonnes of CO2, equivalent to reducing 22% of the country's total carbon dioxide emissions in 2020," said report. "Forest and tree cover has consistently increased and currently stands at 25.
17% of the country's total geographical area." Noting that several challenges confront India's development agenda, including climate change, the report said the country's contribution to global warming is, however, minimal. "Nevertheless, India is committed to combating climate change by making choices that ensure the growth and development of the economy along low-carbon pathways toward net zero by 2070.
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