Time will be a top constraint, said Rajat Gupta, senior partner and Asia leader of McKinsey’s sustainability practice.

As the shadow of increased coal usage looms large over the upcoming climate talks at Sharm el Sheikh, a new McKinsey report shows India can become an unparalleled climate leader with ambitious decarbonisation efforts.

The report released on Thursday projects the country’s annual net greenhouse gas emissions to grow to 11.8 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) by 2070, from 2.9GtCO2e in 2019, if emission reduction continues at the historical rate. But, were India to adopt an “accelerated” pathway — a compliance-based carbon market in three years, quadrupling of renewable capacity addition (from current 10 GW a year to 40-50 GW a year), carbon capture and storage hubs in five locations in the country that are within 500 kms of 70% of the country’s point-source emissions, among other measures — this could come down to 0.4 GtCO2e by 2050. This will allow India to contribute almost 287Gt to the carbon space the world has at present to cap rise in warming to 1.5oC by the end of the century; for perspective, this would make up almost half of the carbon budget.

But such ambition won’t be without challenges. For a start, the funding requirement is estimated at a staggering $12.1 trillion until 2050; while falling costs of renewables, EVs, storage, etc, will help, concurrent growth and decarbonisation will need an additional 45 million hectare of land over what is currently available. Coming up with right policy mix across sectors also seems a formidable task, even as 80% of what India would look like in 2070 is yet to be built, as per the McKinsey report.

Time will be a top constraint, said Rajat Gupta, senior partner and Asia leader of McKinsey’s sustainability practice. “It (accelerated decarbonisation) would require the nation to act within this decade, using its growth momentum to build India right for the decades thereafter. While actions needed are challenging, most of them are economically viable,” he said.

Also read: It’s official! NASA prepares team to study ‘unidentified aerial phenomena’

There are also challenges emerging from the global economic health itself. “The risk of a disorderly transition is high, given the impact of global economic fluctuations. Achieving the necessary technological breakthroughs to reduce emissions in hard-to-abate sectors, and accelerating their progress to market, would require consistent public and private investment … (and) greater willingness among business leaders and policy makers to adopt new technologies and business practices,” said Naveen Unni, co-author of the report and India Leader of McKinsey’s sustainability practice.

https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/science/ambitious-green-house-gases-reduction-can-make-india-unparalleled-climate-leader-mckinsey/2753108/