By Business India Editorial

Despite its strong stand against agreeing to a target of ‘net-zero’ by 2050, India appears to be amenable to the idea of aggregating all its sustainable steps to cut emission and have a revised target beyond what comes under its pledge at Paris Agreement.

The country is likely to revise and update its target ahead of the 26th UN climate conference (COP26), which will be held in Glasgow this November. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the conference in the UK.

The country’s ambitious renewable energy target of 450GW, which the prime minister reiterated in his Independence Day speech, land degradation neutrality, making the Indian Railways a ‘net-zero’ carbon emitter by 2030 are key parts of the country’s mitigation goals. These are expected to not only cut the emission intensity of GDP (GHG emission per unit of GDP) but significantly increase the presence of non-fossil fuels in the overall energy mix in the next 10 years.

Officials say that India’s nationally determined contribution (NDC), which was declared in 2015, has been working so well that the country has done well beyond its official targets. India’s ‘overachievements’ in NDCs and the country’s ambitious goals on many fronts to cut emission were part of the discussions Alok Sharma, COP26 President-designee and former British minister, had with members of Union cabinet and senior government officials during his recent visit to India.

While assuring Sharma India’s support for COP26, Environment minister Bhupender Yadav underlined the importance of climate actions to be ‘nationally determined’. He said that every climate action should be taken considering the realities of developing countries.

In return, Sharma promised the Indian ministers to work on the country’s concerns regarding the contribution of $100 billion per year by rich countries to support the adaptation requirements of the developing countries.