GIST OF RAJYA SABHA TV (RStv Debate) : India-US Clean Energy Partnership

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Introduction

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently announced that India and the US are launching a clean energy Agenda 2030 partnership to mobilise investments and enable green collaborations.
• Addressing the virtual summit on climate, hosted by US President Joe Biden and attended by 40 global leaders, PM Modi pitched for concrete action at a high speed and on a large scale globally to combat climate change.
• He asserted that India has taken several bold steps on clean energy, energy efficiency and bio-diversity despite its development challenges, adding that the country’s carbon footprint is 60% lower than the global average.
• The Prime Minister said as a climate-responsible developing country, India welcomes partners to create templates of sustainable development in India, and these can help other developing countries as well who need affordable access to green finance and clean technologies

In the following analysis, the India-US clean energy partnership is to be discussed from UPSC perspective.

Edited Excerpts from the debate

What does this collaboration include?

• The Partnership will represent one of the core venues for India-US collaboration and focus on driving urgent progress in this critical decade for climate action.
• The energy partnership will
  • mobilize finance and speed clean energy deployment
  • demonstrate and scale innovative clean technologies needed to decarbonize sectors including industry, transportation, power, and buildings
  • build capacity to measure, manage, and adapt to the risks of climate-related impacts.
• Furthermore, the Partnership will proceed along two main tracks:
  • the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership
  • the Climate Action and Finance Mobilization Dialogue, which will build on and subsume a range of existing processes.

How Agenda 2030 partnership on green collaboration is going to be beneficial?

This latest collaboration is going to enhance the energy partnership between India and the United States in many ways:

• The partnership can be a template of green collaborations to help developing countries access to affordable green finance and clean technologies.
• It is expected to play an important role in helping India fulfil its ambitious renewable energy goal of reaching 450 Gigawatt by 2030.
• It is also an opportunity to create millions of good-paying jobs around the world and innovate -- in innovative sectors -- jobs that bring greater quality of life.

How India’s approach towards climate started shifting?

• In 2015, an important decision was made by the government and PM Modi that India will try and be part of the solution and not the problem.
• It showed a paradigmatic shift in the negotiating strategy of the Indian government.
• It also coincided with the launch of the international solar alliance by France and India.

Conclusion

With time, the signs of climate-change dangers are becoming more clear. Climate change has become the reality. It is not the time to wait but to take collaborative actions.

Value Addition

The Summit

• The virtual summit is part of a series of global meetings focusing on climate issues, being held in the run up to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November.
• The summit is being hosted by Biden, for whom climate change has been an area of focus.
• After taking charge as the president, Biden on January 20 announced the return of the United States to the Paris climate accord.

Indo-US Joint Statement

• On the Indo-US partnership, a joint statement by the two sides said it is aimed at demonstrating how the world can "align swift climate action" with inclusive and resilient economic development, taking into account national circumstances and sustainable development priorities".

India-US’s current energy targets

Both the countries have set ambitious 2030 targets for climate action and clean energy.

• In its new nationally determined contribution, the United States has set an economy-wide target of reducing its net greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52 percent below 2005 levels in 2030.
• As part of its climate mitigation efforts, India has set a target of installing 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030.

Global climatic initiatives taken by India

• India is encouraging global initiatives such as-
  • International Solar Alliance
  • the LeadIT
  • the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure