President Donald Trump’s plan to take the United States out of the Paris Agreement is the first major sign of the dangers of voluntary commitment. But India’s decision to stand by it, and even exceed its commitments, is a vindication of the principle that the “Accord de Paris” stands on.
The tragedy of America’s exit is that it was not going to meet its goals even with the world’s largest emitter on board. The voluntary nature, of nations setting their own Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) towards reducing emissions, meant that many punched below their weight in carbon dioxide.
But voluntarism can also spell positively. India, once hesitant about joining the world’s largest climate action programme, is now on track to take the lead. The world’s fourth largest emitter of Greenhouse Gases has become the largest single market for solar power. Solar now costs less than coal, and everyone – from farmers to big business and government is embracing it.
India is already on track to meets it goal of raising non-fossil energy capacity to 40 percent, nearly a decade before the set deadline of 2030. Other goals, like reducing the emissions intensity of GDP by 2020-25, are well on track – the county already achieved a 12 percent reduction according to its Biennial Update Report to the United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCC). And for India’s third INDC to create a carbon sink to capture 2.5-3 billion tons of CO2, a budget of Rs. 42,000 crores ($6.5 billion) was allocated for the states to set up afforestation programs.
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