In News
- NITI Aayog officials met a Finland delegation to discuss the Scandinavian nation’s offerings in the green energy sector in India.
Key highlights of the meeting
- Finland has a lot of experience in transitioning to green energy. Finland’s experience in reaching net zero is by 2035.
- Scandinavian nation’s offerings includes: the green energy sector and explore potential partnerships for India’s green transition and decarbonisation efforts, including sharing of resources like technology and finances.
- Other related sectors: including grid balancing and grid stability, Bio-fuels, green hydrogen, energy storage and waste-to-energy.
- Private and Public partnership: The two countries also discussed how their private companies could collaborate with each other and the role the two governments could play in public procurement of technologies from these companies.
- Virtual Network Centre on Quantum Computing: India and Finland announced the establishment of an Indo-Finnish Virtual Network Centre on Quantum Computing and inked a formal memorandum of understanding to that effect.
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Race to Zero Campaign
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What is the meaning of Net Zero?
- A state in which a country’s emissions are compensated by absorption and removal of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the atmosphere is called Net Zero State; it is also referred to as carbon-neutrality.
- It is done through natural processes as well as futuristic technologies such as carbon capture and storage.
How Net Zero is achieved?
- By creating carbon sinks by growing forests.
- Until recently, the Amazon rainforests in South America, which are the largest tropical forests in the world, were carbon sinks.
- But eastern parts of these forests have started emitting CO2 instead of absorbing carbon emissions as a result of significant deforestation.
- A country may also have negative emissions if the absorption and removal exceed the actual emissions.
- Bhutan has negative emissions because it absorbs more than it emits.
- Until recently, the Amazon rainforests in South America, which are the largest tropical forests in the world, were carbon sinks.
India’s commitment
- India will bring its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030.
- By 2030 India will fulfil 50% of its energy requirement through renewable energy.
- India will cut down its net projected carbon emission by 1 billion tonnes from now until 2030.
- By 2030 India will bring down the carbon intensity of its economy by more than 45%.
- By 2070 India will achieve the target of ‘net zero’.
Other steps to be taken for Net Zero Emissions
- Climate Justice:
- Developed countries ought to be providing at least $1 trillion in climate finance to assist developing countries and those most vulnerable.
- Taking on net-zero targets requires a sharp shift to clean energy sources that will impose a steep cost.
- Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities:
- Principles of Equity and Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC) and
- Recognition of the very different national circumstances of countries to be respected.
- Mitigation and Adaptation:
- There must be a balanced focus on climate adaptation as well as mitigation.
- Focussing just on the mitigation part would be an injustice against developing nations.
- Resilient infrastructure and agriculture:
- There are changes in cropping patterns, there are floods and a great need to make agriculture resilient to these shocks.
- Put warning systems in place to avoid loss of homes, livelihoods and lives.
Way Ahead
- People Centred Clean Energy Transitions:
- Citizens must be active participants in the entire process, making them feel part of the transition and not simply subject to it.
- The transition to net-zero is for and about people.
- Skill Development:
- It is thus paramount that not every worker in the fossil fuel industry can ease into a clean energy job
- So governments need to promote training and devote resources to facilitating new opportunities.
- Phasing out Fossils:
- Countries need to accelerate the phaseout of coal, encourage investment in renewables, curtail deforestation and speed up the switch to electric vehicles
- No one size fits all approach:
- Final aim of the Paris Agreement is global in scope.
- But each country will need to design its own strategy, taking into account its specific circumstances.
- Final aim of the Paris Agreement is global in scope.
- Adaptation of sustainable mode of living:
- Certain practices of traditional communities ought to be made part of school curricula
- India can be a role model:
- The lessons from India’s efforts at adaptation in programmes ought to be popularised globally, such as
- Jal Jeevan mission,
- Swachh Bharat mission and
- Mission ujwala.
- The lessons from India’s efforts at adaptation in programmes ought to be popularised globally, such as
Source: IE
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