India is crucial to achieving the world’s climate change goals.
India has the chance to influence the global agenda for energy and climate transition during its G20 leadership.
India will overtake China as the nation with the greatest population sometime in 2023, most likely around the middle of April. It serves as a timely reminder of India’s expanding impact on the respite of the world and does so in more ways than one, despite its small size.
India assumed the chairmanship of the G20 around the end of 2022. Its leadership motto, “one earth, one home, one future,” is especially appropriate because it emphasizes how interconnected mankind is, not least in terms of suffering from and tackling the effects of climate change. Eighty percent of the year in 2022 had extreme weather events, highlighting the extent to which India is already feeling the impacts of climate change.
India’s G20 presidency puts it in a position to shape the world agenda and determine its objectives and storylines. A year to watch in 2023 will be how India manages to meet its expanding energy requirements and the choices it makes in its energy transition.
Throughout the previous two decades, the nation has made enormous advances toward boosting energy access, with nearly all households having access by the end of 2019.
To satisfy the expanding demand, it must now continue to expand the energy grid and diversify its fuel supply. To achieve robust, fair, shared growth and avoid the worst consequences of climate change, India now has the chance to make a bold decision.
India’s energy mix contains a lot of carbon. Around 70% of the country’s electricity is produced using coal as a fuel, and oil is used to power the majority of its transportation.
As a result, despite having low capita of CO2 emissions, India is the third-largest CO2 emitter in the world. India hasn’t finished building vastly of its GHG inventory yet, unlike wealthy countries with established GHG infrastructure.
This means that the nation needs to drastically lessen its dependency on fossil fuels. In the interim, it must invest heavily in strategies to address the emissions issue, such as adopting cleaner practices, removing the worst GHGs from emissions, and investigating carbon capture.
The country’s route towards decarbonization may be net-positive, which is wonderful news. By utilizing low- and no-emissions technologies, India has a rare chance to forego this voyage.
Research has indicated the advantages India might gain from implementing Green New Deals given these favorable circumstances. According to estimates, India may increase its GDP by $2 trillion by 2030 and $15 trillion by 2070 while also adding 50 million employment.
The World Economic Forum is still committed to helping India; through its Trillion Tree platform, 1t.org, it supports the nation’s efforts to restore its lands and combat climate change, and at its Annual Meeting in 2022, it unveiled the Union of Climate Leaders India (CEO), a platform designed to speed up India’s efforts to implement green policies and combat climate change.
India has the chance to influence the global agenda for energy and climate transition during its G20 leadership. Any successful concepts it creates can be implemented in other economies, benefiting billions of people due to its immense size and diversity. India’s answer to these prospects can specify itself as a role model ahasave a significant impact on our society as a whole.