India’s Climate Governance Framework: Progress, Gaps, and Way Forward
Context
Backdrop: Recent judicial scrutiny of mining activities in the Aravalli range has brought renewed focus on India’s environmental governance framework. The debate highlights tensions between developmental imperatives, ecological protection of green belts, and India’s long-term climate and sustainability commitments.
India’s Commitments under the Paris Agreement (2015)
International Framework: At the Paris Climate Conference (COP-21), India announced four quantified climate commitments rooted in the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR).
Equity Consideration: India’s stance reflects historically low per-capita emissions relative to developed economies.
Present Scenario: Despite this, India has emerged as the third-largest global emitter in absolute terms, necessitating calibrated mitigation strategies.
Quantified Climate Targets: Progress Assessment
Emission Intensity of GDP
- Pledge: 33–35% reduction by 2030 (from 2005 levels).
- Status: ~36% reduction achieved by 2020, well ahead of schedule.
Share of Non-Fossil Power Capacity
- Pledge: 40% by 2030, subsequently enhanced to 50%.
- Status: Non-fossil sources constituted ~51% of installed capacity (~495 GW) by June 2025.
Renewable Energy Deployment
- Pledge: 175 GW by 2022.
- Status:
- Solar expanded from 2.8 GW (2014) to ~110.9 GW (2025).
- Wind grew from 21 GW to ~51.3 GW.
- Aggregate target missed, but growth momentum remains strong.
Carbon Sink Creation (Forests & Trees)
- Pledge: Additional 2.5–3 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent by 2030.
- Status: ~2.29 billion tonnes achieved since 2005, leaving a narrow gap (ISFR 2023).
Drivers of India’s Emission-Intensity Decline
Energy Transition: Accelerated deployment of solar, wind, hydro, and nuclear power reduced the carbon footprint of electricity generation.
Structural Economic Change: Increasing dominance of services and digital sectors lowered emissions per unit of output.
Energy Efficiency Measures: Programmes such as PAT and UJALA delivered verified electricity savings and avoided emissions.
Policy-Led Renewable Push: Schemes like National Solar Mission, PM-KUSUM, UDAY, and solar park initiatives enabled annual renewable additions of ~25 GW.
Constraints and Structural Risks
Rising Absolute Emissions: Total greenhouse gas emissions remain elevated (~2,959 MtCO₂e in 2020), reflecting growth-driven demand.
Sectoral Imbalances: Emissions growth has slowed in power generation but persists in hard-to-abate sectors like steel, cement, and transport.
Coal-Centric Baseload: Coal continues to anchor electricity supply with ~253 GW capacity, complicating decarbonisation efforts.
Renewable Utilisation Gap: Despite high installed capacity, renewables contributed only ~22% of actual electricity generation in 2024–25 due to intermittency and grid limitations.
Energy Storage Deficit: Projected requirement of 336 GWh by 2029–30 contrasts sharply with the limited operational storage (~500 MWh as of September 2025).
Implementation Bottlenecks: Delays in land acquisition, grid connectivity, and inter-state coordination slow project execution.
Forest Governance Challenges: Uneven utilisation of CAMPA funds and plantation-centric approaches risk prioritising carbon accounting over ecological integrity.
Climate Stress on Ecosystems: Warming and water stress reduce real carbon absorption despite satellite-observed greening, especially in the Western Ghats and Northeast.
Way Forward
From Intensity to Absolute Reduction: Achieving the Net-Zero 2070 goal requires converting intensity gains into absolute emission cuts through phased coal transition and industrial decarbonisation.
Strategic Priorities: Scaling energy storage, reforming forest governance, and strengthening transparent emissions tracking systems.
Near-Term Action Window: The next five years are critical to address grid readiness, storage capacity, and institutional coordination.
Overall Assessment: While India has broadly fulfilled its quantified Paris commitments, the decisive challenge lies in translating capacity creation into reliable clean generation and achieving sustained moderation of absolute emissions.
Source : The Hindu