ENVIRONMENT experts on Monday hailed as “real climate action” India’s pledge to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2070, saying that by making this big promises at COP 26, India has put the ball in the court of developed nations to fulfill promise of climate finance. Lauding the national statement delivered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 26th international climate conference in Glasgow, experts said India is rightly demanding USD 1 trillion from the developed nations. “I want to congratulate PM Modi and India for making a bold statement for low-carbon development. India has clearly put the ball in the court of the developed world. This is real climate action. “Now, India demands USD 1 trillion of climate finance as soon as possible and will monitor not just climate action, but deliver climate finance.

 

Most importantly, India has called, once again, for a change in lifestyles. If we cannot fix how we live, we cannot fix the planet on which we live,” said Arunabha Ghosh, CEO and Founder of Council on Energy, Environment, and Water. Aarti Khosla, Director, Climate Trends, said, “By announcing a commitment for achieving net zero targets by 2070, India has responded positively to the global call and it was the best climate action in Glasgow today. “The commitment of 500GW of renewable energy by 2030, which is more than twice the installed capacity of coal currently, should set the stage for a quick transformation of the energy sector, the kind of which hasn’t been witnessed so far. “Ensuring that the new energy regime doesn’t bring the pitfalls of the current regime will be fundamental. Solar and wind are poised to emerge as the future in the net zero world,” she said. Prime Minister Modi, in his address at the ongoing COP26 announced a bold pledge on Monday that India will achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2070 and asserted that it is the only country that is delivering in “letter and spirit” the commitments on tackling climate change under the Paris Agreement. Ajay Mathur, Director General, International Solar Alliance (ISA), said that reducing one billion tonnes of emissions by 2030 and expanding non-fossils capacity to 500 GW are enormous and transformative steps. “PM Modi cut through the rhetoric and delivered a big promise of climate action from India.

 

Reducing 1 billion tonnes of emissions by 2030 and expanding non-fossils capacity to 500 GW are enormous and transformative steps. “Fifty per cent of electricity generation from renewable energy sources speaks of India’s leadership and commitment to climate action. The Prime Minister has made bold announcements and led India from the front at the onset of the Glasgow meeting,” he said. Chandra Bhushan, CEO, iForest, said these steps will go a long way in solving the climate crisis. “India’s announcement of an ambitious 2030 target and a Net zero target is a big step for climate collaboration. I congratulate the PM for announcing this bold step which will go a long way in greening the Indian economy and solving the climate crisis,” he said. Sharing a similar view, Vaibhav Chaturvedi, Fellow, CEEW, said that by announcing the net-zero year, the Prime Minister has also accorded a red carpet to foreign and domestic investors who want to invest in research and development and deployment of green technologies in India.