Background

• Addressing the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India will reach carbon neutrality by 2070.
• He also announced a five-point action plan that included reducing emissions to 50% by 2030.
  • Net-zero, which is also referred to as carbon-neutrality, is a state in which a country’s emissions are compensated by absorption and removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
  • It should be noted that it does not mean that a country would bring down its emissions to zero. That would be gross-zero, which means reaching a state where there are no emissions at all, a scenario hard to comprehend.
  • One way by which carbon can be absorbed is by creating carbon sinks. This way, it is even possible for a country to have negative emissions, if the absorption and removal exceed the actual emissions. Bhutan has negative emissions, because it absorbs more than it emits.

5 Point Action Plan by PM

• India will increase its non-fossil fuel power capacity to 500 gigawatts (GW) by the end of the decade, up from 450GW.
• Half of India’s energy needs will be fulfilled by renewable sources by 2030.
• India’s 2030 carbon intensity goal measured as carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product will be increased from 35% to 45%.
• The country will also strive to cut carbon-dioxide emissions by 1 billion tonnes from business as usual by 2030.
• By 2070, India will achieve the target of net-zero emissions.

Why in News?

• India reiterated its commitment to environmental and climate causes and pointed out that the country has launched several initiatives to fulfil India’s commitment at COP 26 of achieving net zero emissions by 2070.

Reference:

1. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1822016