India stuck to its promise and on Sunday ratified the Paris Agreement on climate change on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. India is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases and has ratified the agreement after US and China have already ratified it.
The deal, agreed by nearly 200 countries in Paris last December, aims to slash greenhouse gas emissions by shifting away from fossil fuels to limit global warming to “well below” two degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times.
India’s PR, @AkbaruddinIndia hands over instrument of ratification of #ParisAgreement to the Office of Legal Affairs, @UN #climatechange pic.twitter.com/1Yw9CLhNfM
— Indian Diplomacy (@IndianDiplomacy) October 2, 2016
So what exactly will India do?
Focus more on green energy and make existing power sources cleaner
In its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution submitted to the UN, India has said that it will focus on increasing how much solar and wind power it relies on.
So it hopes to have:
- 100 GW of power from solar energy by 2022
- 60 GW of power from wind energy by 2022
19,598 MW which will amount to fuel savings of around 23 million tonnes per year.
It hopes to do that by:
- increasing the use of CFL and LED lamps instead of tubelights and conventional light bulbs
- ensuring home appliances are more energy efficient
- setting standards for residential and commercial buildings for energy efficiency
Better management of garbage and water
The Indian government has said that it will encourage:
- the conversion of waste to compost by linking it to the sale of fertilisers,
- making better garbage management facilities,
- improving water recycling
- treating sewage water so that it can be reused.
Improving transport facilities
Indians could see a lot more public transport facilities thanks to the Indian government’s plan to reduce emissions from vehicles in the coming years. How?
- Indian Railways are expected to carry more people
- More metro rail lines across cities
- Dedicated train freight corridors to take trucks off the roads
- Setting fuel efficiency targets for all cars
- Encourage people to buy hybrid, electric vehicles with financial incentives
Planting more trees
India has said that it wants to increase its forest area drastically. From around 24 percent forest area in 2013, the nation will be increasing forest cover in the country to a total of 33 percent.