The Glasgow climate pact finalised on November 13 has evinced strong reactions to the language of fossil fuel “phase down” rather than “phase out”.
She models the economic impacts of low-carbon development pathways for India and supports climate action in Indian cities and states.
What lay behind India’s insistence on a “phase down” of coal use, rather than a phase out?I think they were trying to make a point on differences between developed and developing countries.
Is India facing the heat because it requested the change in the last hours?In this conference, there were expectations from mitigation, adaptation, finance acknowledging the importance of loss and damage.
Vulnerable countries find that to be a severe compromise but they recognise that for the first time, loss and damage has taken its rightful place in the main agreement.
Since India is already moving in the direction of a fossil fuel phase out, why did it not agree to the language?We have to remember the difference between developed and developing countries.
So even though we build clean energy infrastructure like 500 gigawatts of renewable energy , the existing fossil fuel energy capacity cannot simply be phased out or substituted.
As renewable energy grows more and more, it will meet the new energy needs of the population and also start substituting the fossil fuel electricity capacity.
International funding for coal-based power plants is drying up, renewable energy is becoming competitive compared to coal.
Was the term “phase-down” used then to buy India time?It appears that they are making a point.
Even on the question of environment minister pointed out that a lot of subsidies go for supporting clean cooking through LPG because otherwise our population was using firewood.
On adaptation, issues like health, water security, agricultural improvements do not lend themselves well to private finance because they do not give quick returns.
On loss and damage, for India, so far whenever we have faced any extreme weather events, we have paid for it from our own budgetary resources.
Your views?Within the Glasgow pact also there is a reference to phasing out non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas .
That is what the pledge was aimed at – taking advantage of cheap opportunities to reduce methane emissions in oil producing countries.
Definitely there are things that can be done but for the global methane pledge, the focus is on cheap opportunities in the oil and gas sector.
Even if that does not work out fully, India can create its own domestic carbon market and we can link it to markets in other countries.
Other than that, India’s Apex Committee for Implementation of Paris Agreement will take care of certain needs such as making rules for domestic carbon markets, possibly.