New Delhi: In the run up to UN climate change conference in Paris later this year, a green body today urged India to work with developing nations and push for a "fair and equitable" global deal which saves the world from catastrophic climate impacts.
The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has asked the country to submit two Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)- conditional and unconditional, to the global body.
INDCs are voluntary pledges that countries are making to cut carbon pollution ahead of the big climate change meeting in Paris at the end of the year. The meeting is supposed to come out with a new global deal to tackle climate change from 2020 onwards.
"India should put out INDCs that are based on equity and fairness. This is the only way we shame big polluters to reduce their emissions and make them in line with the planetary limits," said Sunita Narain, Director General, CSE.
Under the unconditional INDCs, CSE has recommended that India should agree to do all it can with its own resources and it should be based on principles of equity.
It said that India has already announced ambitious solar and wind energy targets and under Green India Mission, it has pledged to increase forest cover to the extent of 5 million hectares (mha) and improve its quality on another 5 mha of forest and non-forest lands.
"It should also announce targets to reduce emissions intensity of GDP by 2030. Under the Cancun Agreement, India had pledged to reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 20-25 per cent from 2005 levels by 2020.
"Reducing the emissions intensity by 40 per cent by 2030 compared to the 2005 levels is achievable. All these are co-benefit agenda as they would reduce energy consumption, air and water pollution, import bill of the fossil fuels as well as improve environment quality," the CSE said.
Under the conditional INDCs, CSE noted that India should pledge to do more than what is demanded by the principle of equity, provided developed countries give finance and technology support to India.
CSE experts believe that under this, India can double or even triple its targets for renewable energy, setup programme for super efficient appliances, public transport and electric vehicles, double its target for afforestation and also pledge to reduce emissions intensity of its GDP by 60 per cent by 2030.
"All these will move Indian economy decisively towards low carbon growth path which will pave the way for more sustainable and equitable development in the country," Narain said.
The statement comes after China recently submitted its INDC in which it has pledged to peak its carbon emissions latest by 2030 and then start reducing it. US and EU have already submitted their INDCs.
Chinese INDCs, although ambitious, will not keep global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius, CSE said.
As per our estimates, China's INDCs are more elaborate and ambitious than the ones put out by the US and the EU. But they are "less" ambitious compared to what it had pledged till 2020 under the Cancun agreement, it said.
Under the Cancun Agreement in 2010, China had pledged to reduce emissions intensity of its GDP by 40-45 per cent by 2020 while now it has pledged to reduce emissions intensity of its GDP by 60-65 per cent by 2030.
"So, China will be reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by less than half the rate during 2020-2030 period, compared to 2010-2020 period," CSE analysis said.
