Commitments Inked in Paris: Can India Deliver by 2020?

Abstract

The Paris Agreement on Climate Change was adopted at the close of the 21st Conference of Party on 12 December 2015. This agreement has been approved after a marathon negotiation in which parties under the aegis of the United Nations have finally agreed on the terms and conditions to implement it by 2020. The prime objective of the Paris Agreement is to ensure member states of the United Nations take appropriate and concrete actions in combating the menace of climate change that poses a challenging threat to humanity. It includes keeping temperature rise below 2°C by this century and limiting the temperature increase even further to 1.5°C above the pre-industrial levels. India has announced voluntary pledges during the conference which include carbon intensity growth by 33–35 per cent over the 2005 level, to raise the share of non-fossil fuel power to 40 per cent by 2030 and to produce 175 gigawatt (GW) of renewable power by 2022. Hence, the basic objective of this article is to examine India’s commitments and its initiatives to combat climate change in line with the Paris framework agreement to be implemented by 2020 and also to highlight the implications and drawbacks which India confronted.