‘India to achieve carbon neutrality by 2070’

The country needs to take multitude approaches to address COP 26

While addressing a webinar on ‘Climate Change: Challenges and Response (for Scientists & Technologists)’, Dr Akhilesh Gupta, Sr Adviser Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India highlighted that, “India needs to take multitude of approaches to address COP 26 (Cooperation of Partnerships 26) announcements made recently by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

The 5-day online training programme at the Centre for Disaster Management (CDM), Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, is being supported by DST.

“Bringing economy’s carbon intensity down to 45 per cent by 2030 is achievable with some major initiatives on Electric vehicle and green Hydrogen energy. Fulfilling 50 per cent of India’s energy requirement through renewable energy by 2030 is also achievable as India already achieved 40 per cent share of renewable energy. Reducing 1 billion tonnes of carbon emissions by 2030 is challenging as India will have to cut down its carbon emissions by nearly 22 per cent. The biggest challenge for the country is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2070, which would entail scaling up of renewable energy production by several-fold.” Added Dr Akhilesh Gupta.

Dr Gupta informed that according to the Climate Change vulnerability ranking of states carried out by DST, the 8 most vulnerable states are Jharkhand, Mizoram, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, and West Bengal – all in the eastern region, and there is a direct relationship between poverty and low HDI with the vulnerability of a place.

The country needs to take multitude approaches