Seeking to expand the range of renewable energy sources
India oscillates between its economic growth and the calculations of the future of the planet
A boat makes its way down a river shrouded in fog on all sides in New Delhi.
Reuters
People in the capital are walking on a street with no visibility due to the pollution of the capital.
AFP
People in the capital are walking on a street with no visibility due to pollution.
AFP
picture
Despite its capital covered in toxic smog, India led the campaign to reduce commitments to phase out fossil fuels at the COP26 Climate Conference, while experts said it prioritizes its economic growth over the future of the planet, as it cooperated with China to amend the wording of the item on the fuel. Fossil in the closing statement of the Glasgow conference and the imposition of a compromise: a climate agreement that committed countries to “phasing out” coal use rather than “phasing out” it.
It has resisted more ambitious restrictions on polluting energy, driven by its need for cheap fuel to run a thriving economy and to lift hundreds of millions of its citizens out of entrenched poverty.
"A large proportion of the population has not yet reached the basic minimum standard of living," Samrat Sengupta, an expert on climate change at the Center for Science and Environment in New Delhi, told AFP.
Coal consumption has doubled over the past decade and the fuel still powers 70% of India's electricity grid.
The government has been slow to enforce stricter rules on coal plants, and last year announced a series of coal mining auctions to boost domestic production.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged his country would stop using coal, but told delegates at the COP26 conference in Glasgow that India's goal would be to achieve carbon neutrality by 2070, a decade after China, and 20 years after the biggest emitter. gases in the world.
But without decisive action soon, experts warn that India's emissions will rise in the coming years, hampering global efforts to curb global warming.
huge goal
The effects of India's addiction to fossil fuels are clear, with clouds of thick gray fog that shroud New Delhi every winter.
Coal plant emissions and automobile exhaust combine with smoke from farm fires to suffocate the megacity's 20 million residents.
On the day COP26 delegates were finalizing the Glasgow Charter, New Delhi announced a week-long closure of its schools to keep children indoors.
Smog is blamed for more than one million deaths annually in India, and a recent University of Chicago study found that air pollution may lower life expectancy by more than nine years for four in 10 Indians.
Modi's government aims to mitigate the problem by expanding renewables, and has pledged to make the share of solar power equal with hybrid power such as coal by the end of the decade.
But India lacks the high-tech capabilities to meet the demand for solar panels, and relies heavily on expensive components from abroad.
The country has tried to stimulate the local industrialization of solar energy technology by increasing import duties and raising the cost of renewable energy generated by imported means.
Sengupta said the 2030 solar energy goal is “a huge and difficult target to achieve.
It requires a lot of financing and cheap technology.”
India has long argued that historically polluting countries such as the United States and Europe are obligated to provide technical expertise and financing to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The Indian environment minister told COP26 delegates a few days ago that developing countries "are entitled to use fossil fuels responsibly."
Bhubandar Yadav explained that countries with little historical responsibility for climate change should not be held to the same standards as the world's largest per capita emitters.
"In this case, how can anyone expect developing countries to promise to phase out coal and fossil fuel subsidies?" he asked.
India suspends thermal power plants to curb pollution
New Delhi ■ dpa/
The Indian authorities have ordered six thermal power stations in the capital, Delhi, to stop working until the end of the month, as part of measures to reduce air pollution, at a time when a cloud of smoke enveloped the sky of the capital and its suburbs nearly two weeks ago.
And the Bloomberg news agency reported that the Ministry of Environment banned late Tuesday the entry of all types of trucks, except those carrying basic materials, into the capital area, and also urged citizens to work from home to reduce the level of pollution.
The decision came after officials from the governments of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana met to discuss ways to tackle the high levels of pollution.
On Monday, the Indian Supreme Court had called for urgent restrictions on the movement of vehicles and industrial activities in and around the capital.
The city required schools to teach remotely until November 20, construction activities were suspended, and government employees were asked to work from home, after the Supreme Court described the situation as "emergency" last Saturday.
• Coal consumption in India has doubled over the past decade, and the fuel is still responsible for operating 70% of the electricity grid.
• A recent study conducted by the University of Chicago found that air pollution may reduce life expectancy by more than nine years for four out of 10 Indians.
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