CSR: Rise in India’s Carbon Emissions
India has been responsible for 2,299 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2018, according to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). This is a significant rise of 4.8% as compared to the previous year. The report has stated that India’s emissions growth this year was higher than that of the US and China, who are the biggest emitters in the world.
The rise in carbon emissions has been accounted to the increase in coal consumption. In fact, India, China and the US together accounted for nearly 70% of the rise in energy demand. India’s per capita emissions were about 40% of the global average. The country contributed 7% to the global carbon emissions burden.
India has made a commitment to reduce the emission intensity of its economy by 2030, compared to 2005 levels, to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It has also promised to ensure that 40% if the energy used in the country comes from renewable resources by 2030. To that end, India is looking forward to installing a 100 GW solar power plant by 2022. In fact, renewable energy installations have increased by 10.6% as compared to the previous year in India. In order to fulfil the climate pledge, India has estimated a cost of about $2.5 trillion, which is about 71% of the combined required spending for all developing countries’ pledges.
The energy consumption has increased at almost twice the average rate of growth since 2010, in 2018. The need for building a robust global economy and higher heating and cooling needs in some parts of the world has caused this increase. This has led to an increasing demand for all kinds of fuels. Increase in demand for electricity was responsible for more than half of the growth in energy requirements. While it is difficult to reduce the usage and production of energy, it is necessary to take measures to bring innovations that would solve the climate problems sustainably in a cost-effective manner.
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The CSR Journal Team
