India’s Carbon Dioxide Emission Problem Is Getting Bigger And Even Worse Than The US And China
Two years since the Paris Climate Agreement kicked in, India’s carbon emissions are up five per cent. India’s dependency on coal and shallow dependency on green sources of energy is a red flag considering its commitment toward expanding renewable sources of energy. The Paris Climate Agreement aims to curb carbon emission by 26 per cent to 28 per cent by 2025, but the world id showing little signs of any decline in carbon emission.
According to a report published by International Energy Agency (IEA) stated that 33.1 gigatons of energy-related carbon dioxide has been emitted in the 2018, which is an increase of 1.7 per cent from the previous year.
The regions leading in carbon emission are United States and Asian countries. United States’ carbon dioxide emissions grew by 3.1 per cent in 2018, signalling a reverse of the decline a year ago.
China’s emissions rose by 2.5 per cent whereas India surged ahead with a 4.5 per cent increase in its carbon emissions, surpassing both US and China, the two biggest emitters in the world. Notably, the US walked out of the Paris Agreement on June 1, 2017.
India’s coal emissions
India has promised to reduce the emission intensity of its economy by 2030, compared to 2005 levels. It also committed to fulfil 40 per cent of its energy requirement from renewable sources by 2030, and installing 100 GW of solar power by 2022.
Even as India’s renewable energy installations increased 10.6 per cent from last year, its energy intensity improvement decline 3 per cent from last year.
The growth in the country’s energy demand last year was also “led by coal (for power generation) and oil (for transport),” the report says.
India continues to build coal plants, and oil imports are only increasing due to growing population and transportation needs. The country says that it will cost a minimum of $2.5trillion (₹150 trillion approximately) to implement its climate pledge.
Source: indiatimes
