Countries around the world agreed to work on limiting global warming to preferably 1.5 degree centigrade and to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. Explaining India’s role in that through its upcoming G20 Presidency, Amitabh Kant, the G20 Sherpa of India and former CEO of Niti Aayog said it is first important to note that India is not a polluter here.
“If you were to look at the world, the total carbon space available to the world is about 3400 Giga tons, out of which India has occupied only 1.5%. It’s logically entitled to 18.5% based on its per capita, population wise. India is, therefore, not a polluter. The carbon space has been occupied by all the developed world and therefore they accepted the principle of climate justice. And they said that we will finance to support your transition,” he said.
He added that the second important point to understand is that the Gulf world can never achieve 1.5 degrees centigrade without India.
“In the days to come, India will industrialize and without India taking climate action, it will not be possible for the world to achieve. Therefore, it’s very important that India takes leadership. For India, this is an opportunity and not a challenge,” he said at the Public Affairs Forum of India’s (PAFI) 9th Annual Forum 2022.
Kant explained India is climatically blessed, and it has top class entrepreneurship.
“India has demonstrated this when it lived up to its COP21 commitment in Paris. It was the only country which achieved its non-fossil power commitment nine years early. None of the G20 countries achieved that,” he said.
He further said that 80% of the world’s energy depends on hard to abate sectors and India will have to be the first country to industrialise these sectors without carbonising.
“India needs to decarbonize all these sectors and that can only be done by green hydrogen. Green hydrogen is about green, renewable energy which is using electrolysis to crack water and produce green light. So, in green hydrogen, India can be the world’s production and technology, because we produce renewable energy at low costs. We can become the center of the world and that is what our ambition is,” he said.
He added we should not import fossil fuels and be an exporter of clean energy, as the country is climatically blessed.
When asked how India will compete with China as it is presumed that most of the rare metals or natural resources such as cobalt, nickel, lithium have been dominated by China or Chinese-controlled companies, Kant says that India faces no competition from China.
“As far as climatic conditions are concerned, India does not face any challenge from China. In renewable energy, India doesn’t face any competition from anywhere in the world except the Middle East, which is already fossil fuel rich. So, the challenge is that it’s an opportunity for India to become the biggest renewable producer,” he said.
He also said that there is a huge opportunity for battery storage manufacturing in India, for two wheelers for electric storage for three wheelers.
“India should become the center for compact car manufacturing and electric compact car manufacturing. We should become the center for electric two and three wheelers and export them to the rest of the world. If you don’t do this, this will be a lost opportunity,” he said.
EV are slowly and steadily replacing combustion engines and several countries are vying to keep up. Large US manufacturers like Ford and GM are already on the path to churn out more EVs, while the Europeans, with the likes of Mercedes, BMW and the Volkswagen group, are also making similar efforts. In Asia, China has a clear leadership in EV manufacturing and has established a strong supply chain network to become one of the largest EV markets in the world. Thailand is also expected to be a strong competitor in Asia for EVs as it looks to maintain its place at number 10 in global vehicle manufacturing.
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