India needs a coordinated approach for decarbonisation of economy

News: PM announced enhanced targets for climate action by India, particularly for achieving net-zero emissions by 2070.

What is the need for policy changes in Renewable Energy(RE) sector?

By 2070, there will be many changes in technology, environmental conditions, and the economy. Therefore, shorter period planning is needed, so that new knowledge about emerging technologies can be incorporated into plans.

The shorter-term targets to be reached by 2030 refer mostly to the power sector. This is needed because it is the biggest source of GHG emissions and also the easiest one to decarbonise.

There is an abundance of separate targets for almost every resource used to generate electricity. It reduces flexibility of distribution companies to select resources to meet their loads, resulting in a non-optimal resource mix, and a higher cost of electricity.

What is needed to be done?

Interim targets and monitoring progress-For this, an agency led by experts should be set up to cover climate change issues for all sectors. It would also monitor progress and annually report and suggest mid-course corrections.

Overarching objective-Reducing ’emission intensity’ is a good overarching objective, instead of multiple objectives, like increased use of RE or non-fossil-fuel generation, which are just means to that end.

Source: This post is based on the article “India needs a coordinated approach for decarbonisation of economy” published in Indian Express on 17th November 2021.