There are countries—developed ones—which are contributing greatly towards the net carbon emission across the world, but It has been seen that India has been presenting itself as more active when it comes to taking the necessary steps to cut the emission in comparison to those countries whose responsibilities are more This time, at Sharm El-Sheikh, the vision which India has presented talks of using hydrogen energy to drive its developmental needs, more use of electric vehicles, going for bio-fuels rather than using the traditional ones which result in more carbon emission, and more importantly, stepping up the use of electric vehicles coupled with the increase in the blending of ethanol in the petrol to lessen the emission further.
The majority of the steps are already in place in the country which includes the use of hydrogen energy which has already been launched under the National Hydrogen Mission in 2021 and is fundamentally aiming to make India a green hydrogen hub. When we talk of electric vehicles, their alternate use in the country has already begun with the Government doing more in this direction with every passing day. To deal with carbon emissions, the vision which India has presented is the actual road map which could guide the world on the path of curbing carbon emissions. However, the countries which have a greater share in the net carbon emission and have done enough towards the transition India is heading to also need to come up with long-term strategies to deal with the issue at hand.
India might be leading the world with its decarbonisation goals and in this regard, other countries also need to take a cue from it and formulate a long-term strategy with focused goals to achieve the low carbon development transition. While India has taken the first step by putting forth its plan, it needs to ensure that, while it goes ahead with the transition, the energy needs are not scuttled because that could heavily tell upon the pace of development which has taken off, particularly during the PM-Modi-led Government. At the same, India’s commitment towards working to address the effects of global warming under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) even after having a minuscule contribution to cumulative emission of global GreenHouse Gases despite having a share of nearly 17% of world’s population, needs to be lauded and for that, it should get the necessary assistance from the developed countries which are hurting more and doing less.
