The world before us and after us
Time is ticking, and we are at the threshold of global warming – limiting the earth’s heat to a 1.5-degree Celsius rise needs immediate action within 79,000 hours. The rising temperatures and erratic weather conditions are forcing us to rethink where we are going wrong.
Business actions are monitored under ESG goals to practise responsible actions to protect the environment. Gone are the days when businesses were recognised for retaining their investors; it is all about accomplishing their ESG goals. A swift transition from coal to renewables by 2050 to meet our power needs can truly be achieved collectively as a nation.
India’s climate action roadmap to transition smoothly from a coal-based economy to a clean energy economy is the aim of the power sector and this shift is a state-wide resolution done on an hourly timescale up to 2050. It is being suggested that some key states could entirely switch to sustainable energy by 2035. In contrast, certain coal-dependent regions such as Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Gujarat can achieve 100 per cent green energy as early as 2040.
As per these estimates, India will reach its renewable energy goals at least 10 years before the ambitious national goal. To achieve this objective, the rapid transition to clean energy needs to be extensively supported by policymakers, global investors and other stakeholders.
Reshaping policies: It’s time the government employs public investment and regulation to immediately scale up clean energy technologies to lower costs, reach universal climate change objectives and boost economies across the globe. The aim of the global energy policy of the past three decades has been a successful switch to wind, hybrid and solar energy – governments must make use of the ITR policy – Investment, Tax and Regulation – and move beyond just providing a level-playing field.
By allocating appropriate investments, governments should also try to give clean technologies an advantage over fossil fuel-based processes. The EEIST (Economics of Energy Innovation Systems Transition) report, ‘Ten Principles for Policymaking in the Energy Transition: Lessons from Experience,’ clearly states that the government identified the potential of wind energy, solar PV and electric vehicles at the right time and supported the same to succeed and place the foundation stone of India’s energy transition to renewable and sustainable sources. This blueprint can be used to reach global climate goals much faster.
Moreover, decisive government actions in each carbon-emitting segment focused on making clean technologies affordable and accessible will not just help the environment and the economy, but also businesses to boom by reaching their ESG goals.
India Inc advantage: The impact of fossil fuel-led industrialisation has already put the future health of our planet in danger. Here, corporates have been a massive contributor to the problem of emitting greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide, now threatening our long lifespans. By realising that turning sustainable will outweigh the initial upfront expenses, such as the cost of production, storage and transportation, businesses have the power to capture all the energy provided from renewable sources in abundance, daily.
Each hour, the Earth receives as much sunlight to fulfil the power needs of every human being on the planet for a year. Understanding the potential of such a powerhouse, India has installed a solar power capacity of more than 50 GW (as of August 2022), including both ground and roof-mounted plants. A similar approach will be needed for green hydrogen and green ammonia to become reliable sources of power generation.
India’s biggest power players have already seen this goldmine of upcoming green energy sources and pledged sizeable investments in this sector to make the country Atmanirbhar in its truest sense. Aside from supporting India in its fight against climate change and contributing to achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, in the long run, the thousands of crores of investments will also help businesses gain an advantage over those that failed to foresee the future of the renewables market.
India is one of the fastest-growing markets for green energy globally. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been very categorical about his commitment to renewable energy. He also gave India’s gift Panchamrit – the five nectar elements to the world to address climate change. One of the significant elements of Panchamrit is the higher deployment of renewable energy, with India meeting 50 per cent of its energy needs through renewable energy sources by 2030.
Adopting green energy sources has the potential to make businesses economically sustainable. We believe in the philosophy of giving back more than what we take, with only 79,000-odd hours or just over a decade to reset the clock to 1.5 C and get climate change under control with collective efforts. The world before us and the world after us will be different. This is our promise, and we will achieve this together.