STATE TIMES NEWS
NEW DELHI: Union Minister, Dr Jitendra Singh, India is committed to achieve the “Net Zero” emissions target by 2070.
Delivering keynote address at “Global Sustainability Alliance” meet, organised by the Times Group here today, Dr Jitendra Singh said, “We are fully committed to contribute in attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by way of Research and Innovation through international collaboration and partnerships”,
Dr Jitendra Singh said, India is set to achieve its short term and long term targets under the Panchamrit action plan, like- reaching a non-fossil fuel energy capacity of 500 GW by 2030; fulfilling at least half of its energy requirements via renewable energy by 2030; reducing CO2 emissions by 1 billion tons by 2030; reducing carbon intensity below 45 percent by 2030; and finally pave the way for achieving a Net-Zero emission target by 2070.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, Government of India through Public -Private partnerships is ensuring the funding for clean energy innovations as envisioned under Mission Innovation 2.0. He said that the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) setup has been able to provide a unique opportunity for India to showcase its contribution to clean energy development nationally & internationally and quoted some major CEM initiatives which includes CEM’s Global Lighting Challenge (GLC) campaign, Street Lighting National Programme, Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) programme and the ‘One Sun-One World-One Grid’ Initiative which was first floated by the Prime Minister of India to harness tremendous potential of solar energy.
Referring to the G20 Summit earlier this month, Dr Jitendra Singh said the New Delhi Declaration committed itself to implement India’s initiative of ‘Lifestyle for Environment Mission’ (LiFE) and promote Artificial Intelligence towards achieving the UN SDGs. By adopting the ‘Green Development Pact,’ G-20 has also reaffirmed its commitments to sustainable and green growth.
Dr Jitendra Singh said India stands at the forefront of addressing the global challenge of Climate Change and has committed to an ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of reducing emission intensity by 33-35% in 2030 against the levels of year 2005.
“India has remained steadfast in its transition towards clean energy achieving the fastest pace of renewable capacity addition amongst all major economies and ambitious transition goals articulated by Prime Minister Modi, in India’s Panchamrit declaration at COP26,” he said
The Union Minister said that the last nine years have witnessed the Indian crusade against climate change. “We have already achieved our commitment of 40% energy production from renewable sources, way ahead of the 2030 Paris Agreement target,” he said.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, India is among the few countries in the world to design a Cooling Action Plan (CAP) with a long-term vision (spanning a 20-year period from 2017-18 to 2037-38) that addresses cooling requirements across sectors.
“CAP identifies possible actions to reduce cooling demand arising from residential and commercial buildings, cold chains, etc., covering aspects of building design and technological innovations that do not compromise on energy efficiency,” he said.
Dr Jitendra Singh mentioned sustainable practices in fisheries, marine research, coastal tourism, and renewable energy generation. He said, by harnessing the potential of the Blue Economy, we can ensure the well-being of our oceans while driving economic development in a sustainable and responsible manner. We are also concerned about increased plastics and microplastics in our oceans, another important area to focus as it enters into our food chain as several marine organisms consume them.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, despite efforts by countries to check and reduce emission of greenhouse gases, the global average temperature in 2100 is expected to rise to around 2.1°C above pre-industrial levels. The Minister pointed out that this falls short of the goals stipulated in the Paris Agreement, which calls for limiting the global temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial-era levels by the end of the century.
