Over to Marrakesh

After trying, quite inexplicably, to link the ratification of the Paris climate agreement to its admission to the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group, India has done well to change its stance. With major emitters such as the US and China having ratified the agreement, it would have appeared odd for the fastest growing economy to drag its feet. The pact becomes a done deal when countries accounting for over 55 per cent of the total emissions ratify it (including India, 62 countries accounting for about 52 per cent of global emissions have done so). With India ratifying on time, it can play a role in shaping the pact’s monitoring processes at the upcoming Marrakesh climate meet and beyond.

The Paris agreement, which comes into force from 2020, does not jettison the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’, according to which the developing world must not be burdened in the same way with environmental obligations as the OECD countries, owing to their being late entrants in the industrialisation process. However, the new norm essentially makes a distinction between fast-growing emerging economies and the poorer ones, in view of Asia’s rising share in global emissions over the last 20 years. The Paris agreement enjoins all countries to spell out their respective and varied environmental commitments (a departure from Kyoto, which restricted its focus to the rich). India has agreed to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33-35 per cent over 2005 levels by 2030, while increasing the share of installed capacity in renewables to 40 per cent by then. This commitment does not require India to spell out when its absolute emissions will peak — unlike submissions by not just the US and EU, but also China. The Paris pact provides room for a country that needs to provide electricity to the 300 million that lack access to it, and yet ensure that emissions are contained in its own interest.

The shift to renewables is not a tall order. Renewables, including hydel and nuclear power already account for over 30 per cent of India’s installed capacity. The fact that increases in renewables capacity will have to come largely from wind and solar, in view of the socio-political roadblocks to developing hydel and nuclear, should not matter. The operating costs of solar and wind, at ₹4-5/kWh, are way below nuclear power and are next only to coal-fired power. The challenge of shifting to renewables is two-fold: the high capital cost and the ability of the grid to deal with weather-induced fluctuations in supply. There should also be no let-up in demand-side measures such as green buildings, electric vehicles, smart metering and LED lighting.

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