New Delhi: As the world’s leading economies are investing trillions of dollars towards COVID-19 recovery packages, a huge proportion is going to fossil fuel industries without climate-related conditions, endangering clean energy opportunities in the coming decade, a G20 climate performance report stated on Wednesday.
India, it stated, isn’t on the course for a 1.5 degrees Celsius world. To be on course, India needs to limit its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to 4.597 MtCO2e by 2030 and under 3.389 MtCO2e by 2050.
India can do such by adopting a ‘no new coal‘ policy just as working on a plan to phase out coal by the year 2040.
India’s average death rate per 1,000 because of air pollution is more than 1.7 to 18 times the G20 average.
These are among the vital discoveries of the 2020 Climate Transparency Report, an annual joint effort between 14 think tanks, including TERI, and NGOs over G20 countries.
The current year’s report analyses G20 countries‘ performance across 100 symbols of climate adaptation, finance, and mitigation, aside from emission effects of the COVID-19 crisis and replies by their governments.
The year 2019 has seen an amazing departure from the long-term development trend in energy-related emissions and a steady extension of renewables in the G20. However, researchers alert that by providing conditional support to fossil fuels, governments’ recovery replies risk reversing, rather than locking in, positive pre-COVID trends.
Around 19 of the G20 countries have decided to offer financial support to their domestic oil, coal as well as gas sectors and about 14 countries bailed out their national airline organizations without climate conditions attached.
Just four G20 nations gave more funding to green areas compared with fossil fuel or different emissions-intensive industries.
Charlene Watson of the Overseas Development Institute stated, “The recovery packages can solve the climate crisis or make it worse. Some G20 members like the EU, France or Germany are setting mostly a good example for building more resilient economies whilst shielding themselves against the accelerating climate impacts. Others direct too much support to fossil fuels, putting at risk positive recent developments.”
As indicated by the report, in 2019 energy-related CO2 emissions declined in G20 countries for the first time because of climate policies instead of external shocks, (for example, the 2008-09 financial crisis), to be specific by 0.1 per cent, down from a 1.9 per cent development in 2018.
Because of the effects of the pandemic, G20 energy-related CO2 emissions are projected to be 7.5 per cent lower before the end of 2020 compared with 2019.
Most notably, worldwide aviation emissions collapsed for the current year.
The portion of renewable energy in power generation grew in 19 of the G20 countries in 2019, accounting 27 per cent of power generation in the G20.
It is projected to keep on increasing in all G20 countries and will probably make up right around 28 per cent of power generation in 2020.
Coal utilization diminished by two per cent. Notably, just five G20 individuals have set targets to phase out coal, it said.
Jorge Villarreal of Iniciativa Climatica de Mexico stated, “Before the pandemic hit, results of climate action were coming to fruition in some energy-related sectors and the crisis consolidated those trends in a majority of the G20 countries.”
With China, Japan, South Africa and South Korea the most recent to join the race to carbon neutrality by mid-century, the report finds that the momentum behind harder climate targets among the world’s biggest emitters is building.
Nonetheless, the short-term policy framework and investments are not yet reliable with long- term plans.
This is despite the fact that climate-related weather extremes, for example, heatwaves, out of control fires and flooding will turn out to be more serious in G20 countries as a global warming moves toward the 1.5 degrees Celsius mark.
Amongst G20 members, Australia, Brazil, Italy, India, Turkey, Mexico, France, Saudi Arabia and South Africa risk greater exposure to climate-related effects compared with global projections at 1.5 degrees.
The analysis additionally identifies basic distinctions in how governments are replying to the decarbonisation challenge. For example, Japan, Canada, Britain and France have set target dates for phasing out fossil fuel vehicles, while in comparison, the Trump administration moved back regulation pointed toward diminishing transport emissions.
While 18 of the G20 countries are currently in the process of or have just implemented carbon-pricing schemes, India and Australia have no such plans.
Further, while Canada, Britain, and France have presented completely restricted public financing for coal, India, China, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa have no restrictions set up.
RR Rashmi from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) said to IANS, “India’s transport sector currently accounts for 14 per cent of its energy-related CO2 emissions. As car ownership grows, India should quickly increase the share of EVs and invest in sustainable urban public transport.”
