Compass Money: India Pledges Net Zero Emissions by 2070 on Climate Finance Condition

India’s economy is currently very reliant on coal, making it challenging to achieve net zero carbon emissions. (Flickr)

During the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), India pledged to use renewable energy to fuel half of the country’s energy needs by 2030 and ultimately reach net zero carbon emissions by 2070. However, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made this pledge on the condition that developed countries provide India with one trillion dollars to restructure its economy over the next ten years, a request that developed countries have not agreed to.

In recent years, the earth’s environment has been changing at a rapid pace due to human activity. Global temperatures have increased, and extreme weather events are occurring more frequently. To address these changes, leaders from nearly 200 countries met for COP26, a climate change conference that took place from October 31 to November 12 in Scotland. The UN COP members have been meeting annually since 1995. 

One point of contention in the conversation surrounding climate change is that wealthier states produce more harmful emissions than poorer countries, yet lower-income states are expected to make the same changes as wealthier countries to address climate change. For example, India’s population makes up approximately one-fifth of the total world population, but the country only produces about five percent of the world’s emissions. Making the transition to more eco-friendly forms of energy, such as solar power, is challenging because those energy sources are more expensive and harder to access than more polluting forms like coal. 

Furthermore, India’s economy is currently built on coal. The government employs approximately 300,000 people through state-owned coal mines. Also, Indian manufacturing of materials such as brick and steel is powered by coal, and transportation services like trains run on coal. Additionally, 70 percent of India’s electricity comes from coal power. India currently produces approximately one-tenth of the world’s coal-powered energy.

In 2009, developed countries pledged to give developing countries $100 billion each year to help them convert to renewable energy sources. However, they have not met this goal, only giving about $80 million each year. So, for the last ten years, India has been receiving some aid from developed countries to use towards converting to more eco-friendly energy sources. However, India’s Environment and Climate Minister Bhupender Yadav says the amount they are currently receiving is not nearly enough. He explained that the country would need approximately $2.5 trillion to completely rebuild its economy on a new energy source. During the conference, Modi started out by asking for $1 trillion, but he did not receive a clear response from developed countries about this request.

Now, India is not planning to update its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which are official energy goals, until developed states agree to provide more climate finance. Modi spoke for all developing countries during his COP26 speech when he said, “It is India’s expectation that the world’s developed nations make $1 trillion available as climate finance as soon as possible.”