India asked to update Climate goals

India asked to update Climate goals

Part of: Prelims and GS III – Climate change

Context UK has urged India to announce a “more ambitious” Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) ahead of a United Nations climate change summit in the U.K. in a few weeks.

• As president of the coming climate change conference, the U.K. is asking all countries to update their NDCs to reflect climate targets for the next few decades.
• UK also noted that India already lead(s) the world in renewable technology.

What is a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)?

• Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) or Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) are non-binding national plans highlighting climate actions that governments aim to implement in response to climate change and as a contribution to achieve the global targets set out in the Paris Agreement.
• 193 countries filed their first NDCs, but only 19 have so far updated them. 

India’s Paris Climate Goals

In 2015, ahead of the UN significant climate conference in Paris, India announced three major voluntary commitments called the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC):

• Improving the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33–35% by 2030 over 2005 levels
• Increasing the share of non-fossil fuels-based electricity to 40% by 2030.
• Enhancing its forest cover, thereby absorbing 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide

India’s promises include:

• installing 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030
• declaring firm deadlines for achieving “Net Zero” carbon emissions 
• ending the use of coal for generating electricity, so as to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.