COP26: What Is Net Zero Emissions Pledged By Many Countries Including India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced earlier this week at the 26th Conference of Parties (COP) UN climate conference in Glasgow that India will achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. A date that is two decades later than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's target of mid-century (2050).

During the 'High-Level Segment for Heads of State and Government' at the UNFCCC's 26th (COP), PM Modi also announced that the country would reduce projected emissions by one billion tonnes from now until 2030.

What exactly is net-zero?

Maintaining a proper balance between the quantity of greenhouse gases released and removed from the atmosphere is what net-zero means. To be more specific, if a country emits a certain amount of carbon each year, it must compensate by absorbing carbon through forest absorption or carbon capturing.

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Only when total emissions are less than total removal and absorption can a country reach net zero emissions. Carbon dioxide (CO2), which accounts for nearly two-thirds of all greenhouse gas emissions, is mostly created by the burning of coal, natural gas, and other fossil fuels in our homes, factories, and transportation.

Farming and landfills both produce methane which is also a part of greenhouse gas. By trapping the sun's energy, these gases contribute to global warming. Meanwhile, global deforestation creates another problem as it is reducing the number of trees and plants that absorb CO2.

Further, the term "net-zero," also known as "carbon-neutrality," does not imply that a country's emissions will be zero. That would be gross-zero, which means there would be no emissions at all, which is not a realistic situation anyway. In simple words, net-zero is a state in which a country's emissions are offset by greenhouse gas absorption and removal from the environment.

How is net-zero related to the Paris Agreement?

Despite the fact that the term 'net-zero' does not appear in the Paris Agreement. Governments, on the other hand, are increasingly recognising the need of including net-zero targets in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) at domestic levels and some have also begun to legislate for net-zero targets.

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According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), "Global net human-caused carbon dioxide emissions would need to fall by around 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching 'net zero' around 2050" to keep global warming to 1.5¡ãC, the Paris Agreement's objective. Between 2063 and 2068, total greenhouse gas emissions must be zero.

According to the IPCC, any remaining emissions "would need to be balanced by extracting or removing CO2 from the air." Despite the fact that the 192 countries of the globe committed to aim to keep global warming below 1.5¡ãC under the Paris Agreement, progress is not on track at present.

Even if every country reaches its existing emissions reduction pledges, the UN Environment Programme's Emissions Gap Report issued in October this year warned that global temperatures are still projected to increase by 2.7 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of this century.

Why has it become important?

The IPCC report has been described as a "code red" warning for humanity. The need of getting to net zero as quickly as possible and setting strong interim targets was made apparent in this report to the world's nations. Since the world has already warmed by more than 1 degree Celsius and, as previously stated, is on schedule to warm by another 2.7 degrees Celsius, that too after a pause in 2020 owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

Carbon dioxide is one of the most significant contributors to climate change, and it has a long residence time in the atmosphere. As a result, limiting greenhouse gas emissions is critical, as the already-warming earth will certainly bring more extreme weather and perhaps catastrophic sea level rise, rendering certain portions of the globe uninhabitable and fueling hunger and migration.

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Because of this, as well as escalating public pressure, an increasing number of countries, companies, and organisations are pledging to reduce their global warming emissions to zero by 2050 or sooner.

Which countries are committed to net-zero?

137 countries out of 192 are signatories to the UN Climate Convention, accounting for 80% of global emissions and pledging to achieve net-zero emissions by the year 2050.

The United Kingdom, on the other hand, became the first large economy to enact net-zero legislation in 2019. The Government was acting on advice from the Climate Change Committee, the UK's independent advisory body, which stated that a net-zero aim was required for the UK to meet its Paris Agreement commitments.

According to the 'Net Zero Tracker' of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, five more countries had approved net-zero legislation as of January 2021: Sweden, France, Denmark, New Zealand, and Hungary, all with a 2050 goal date except Sweden (2045). Other countries have amended their NDCs, proposed legislation, or stated their desire to achieve net-zero emissions. The European Union also set out its bloc-wide net-zero target for 2050? in its European Green Deal? published in December 2019.

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Notably, in September 2020, the world's biggest emitter China and the third-largest producer of oil worldwide Russia announced to be carbon-neutral by 2060. China achieving this cut is crucial for meeting the world target.

However, countries aren't the only ones making net-zero commitments. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) stated in 2020 that the number of net-zero commitments from local governments and corporations had approximately doubled in less than a year, primarily from actors taking part in the UN Race to Zero campaign. Businesses, cities, regions, and investors have started contributing to attaining the Paris targets and push governments to commit more to decreasing emissions through their activities.

Can India achieve its 2070 target?

India is the world's third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, with annual emissions exceeding 3 billion tonnes. India's total greenhouse gas emissions in 2018 were at 3.3 billion tonnes, up from 2.5 billion tonnes in 2010, according to the World Resources Institute database. India's projected emissions between now and 2030 could be in the range of 30-32 billion tonnes if current trends continue.

PM Modi's pledge that the government will lower cumulative emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030 is the first time the country has set an absolute emission reduction objective. Previously, the closest approximation to changing its emissions trajectory was in the form of emissions intensity.

Only developed countries are mandated and expected to reduce their absolute emissions under the international climate change framework.

India's economic interests are essentially domestic, and it remains heavily reliant on fossil fuels such as oil and coal. The country's energy demand is expected to increase over the next decade as the economy grows.

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Experts believe India's 2070 goal, when combined with the other 2030 goals declared by PM Modi, is "very much doable."

Other goals include increasing renewable, hydro, and nuclear power capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030, which would mean renewables would provide 50% of the country's energy needs.

Between now and 2030, it also aims to cut down on total projected carbon emissions by a billion tonnes. Although a formal submission to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is yet to be made.

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