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Discuss the five proposals made by India in the recent COP-26 conference held in Glasgow. (UPSC CSE Mains 2021 - Political Science and International Relations, Paper 2)
Suffering from global warming, frequent floods and fires, Covid-19 pandemic and numerous other problems, the planet is going through an existential crisis, citing an urgent need for scientific and innovative steps to secure humanity''s future.
COP 26 or 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference is the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference. It started on October 31 in Glasgow, Scotland and will conclude on November 12, 2021. It is the third meeting of the parties of Paris Agreement. During the conference, parties were expected to commit to enhanced ambition since COP21. Parties were required to carry out ratchet mechanism every five years, in accordance with the Paris Agreement. In this context, India at UNFCCC CoP-26 announced its enhanced climate commitments — the “Panchamrit”, including a commitment to reach net-zero carbon emission by 2070.
India’s ‘Panchamrita’ promises include:
- India will get its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 gigawatt by 2030
- India will meet 50 per cent of its energy requirements till 2030 with renewable energy
- India will reduce its projected carbon emission by one billion tonnes by 2030
- India will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by 45 per cent by 2030
- India will achieve net zero by 2070
India accounts for 17 per cent of the world’s population. However, it only contributes five per cent of emissions. In terms of renewable energy capacity, India stands at fourth position.
The Glasgow Summit, or COP 26, is of extreme significance as it has initiated extensive programs for countering the situation of climate change.
- The summit in Glasgow focused on cutting down on emissions of hazardous elements and restoring the forests.
- The summit has also prompted the members to make extra efforts concerning achieving the targets before 2030.
- The summit urged nations to cut their emissions to zero to maintain the overall global temperature well below 1.5 degrees Celsius.