Glasgow: India will reach carbon neutrality by 2070, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced as part of a five-point action plan that included reducing emissions to 50% by 2030, making the boldest pledge on Monday at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.
This is the first time India has committed to net-zero emissions, a target that is particularly hard for developing nations that need to balance commitment to economic growth.
India, Modi said, was the only major economy that delivered its Paris Agreement commitments in “letter and spirit”.
“By 2070, India will achieve the target of net-zero emissions,” the PM told more than 120 leaders at the critical talks. He added four more commitments: The country will increase its non-fossil fuel power capacity to 500 gigawatts (GW) by the end of the decade, up from 450GW; half of India’s energy will come from renewable sources by 2030; India’s 2030 carbon intensity goal — measured as carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product — will be increased from 35% to 45%; and the country will also strive to produce half of its electricity using renewable energy and cut carbon-dioxide emissions 1 billion tons from business as usual by 2030.
“It is India’s expectation that the world’s developed nations make $1 trillion available as climate finance as soon as possible,” Modi said. “Justice would demand that those nations that have not kept their climate commitments should be pressured… climate finance cannot lag climate action.”
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