ABOUT
Climate Action Tracker (abbreviated CAT) is a research organisation that tracks government actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with international accords.
It monitors climate action in 32 nations that account for more than 80% of global emissions. The Climate Action Tracker is an impartial scientific analysis that analyses government climate action and compares it to the Paris Agreement goal of “keeping warming well below 2 degrees Celsius, and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.” Since 2009, the CAT has been offering impartial analyses to policymakers as a collaboration of two organisations, Climate Analytics and NewClimate Institute.
INDIA
According to a simulated domestic emissions pathway developed by CAT, emissions will continue to climb under India’s current targets and policies and are consistent with 4 degrees Celsius or higher of warming.
The three main elements of India’s NDC are a 33–35 percent reduction in economy-wide emissions intensity by 2030 (conditional on international support); a 40 percent installed capacity from non-fossil-based energy resources by 2030 (conditional on international support); and a carbon sink expansion target of 2.5–3 GtCO2e through additional forest and tree cover by 2030. The 40% non-fossil energy objective is rated “Critically insufficient” by CAT, while the emissions intensity target is rated “Highly insufficient.”
India is on track to meet its 40 percent non-fossil capacity target a decade ahead of schedule. According to CAT, India is on target to achieve 60-65 percent non-fossil installed capacity by 2030. “Our ranking would increase by one category to ‘Highly insufficient’ if India instead achieved the top of that range – 65 percent non-fossil installed capacity in 2030.” Even if India is not accountable for all reductions, it should plan on how quickly it could reduce emissions if appropriate international funding was available, rather than locking itself into a high-carbon future.
India’s current policies also indicate rising, rather than falling of emissions and is not at all consistent with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 degree C temperature limit. India also doesn’t have net -zero emissions target by 2050, flags CAT which is supported by several foundations and governments including the European Climate Foundation and the German Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) etc.
CAT has underlined that, while India’s contribution of global coal power has been declining, it remains the world’s second-largest coal pipeline, trailing only China, with over 200 GW of coal-fired capacity in service. Over the following five years, the Central Electricity Authority predicts that this will rise to over 266 GW. According to CAT, there is a high risk that India’s coal assets would be stranded, especially because two-thirds of the country’s coal-fired power plants were built in the last ten years.
(source Hindustan times)
