*Dr. Arvind Kumar, President, India Water Foundation
At the ongoing Conference of Parties or COP-21 at Paris, about 195 nations are huddled together to negotiate a climate rescue pact to rein in the greenhouse gases that drive climate change. This summit aims at achieving a legally binding universal agreement on climate, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C for the first time in over 20 years of UN negotiations.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed the COP, had a packed schedule at the COP 21 summit in Paris on 1 December 2015. He also launched the International Solar Alliance (ISA) with French President Francois Hollande, spoke at the Innovation Summit with other world leaders and held bilateral talks with several leaders including US President Barack Obama and Japan’s Shinzo Abe. Modi also had a conversation with his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines.
While cautioning against any unilateral steps that will lead to an economic barrier in the battle against climate change, in his address to the COP 21 summit, he hoped that the developed countries would mobilise $100 billion annually by 2020 for mitigation and adaptation. Asserting that the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities must remain the bedrock of our collective enterprise, he added that there should be aggressive mitigative action by developed countries by 2020. He also underlined the need for a national will and genuine global partnership while taking steps to hammer out a climate change deal.
While calling on the developed nations to fulfil their commitment in a credible, transparent and meaningful manner and to mobilise 100 billion US Dollars annually by 2020 for mitigation and adaptation, Prime Minister Modi further noted that conventional energy was still needed, he said it should be made clean and an end to its use should not be imposed. Urging the developed nations, which have a larger carbon footprint, to take the lead in addressing the climate change issues, Modi said: “It is not just a question of historical responsibility. We hope advanced nations will assume ambitious targets and pursue them as they have the most room for impact.”
In his meeting with US President Obama, on the sidelines of the climate summit in Paris, Prime Minister Modi appreciated the openness with which the U.S. President addressed issues with him and said it would help in developing a better understanding. At a joint press event with President Obama, Modi reiterated India’s commitment to fulfill all its responsibilities with regard to climate change.
Prime Minister Modi also mentioned India’s ambitious target of producing 175 GW of renewable energy. The Prime Minister’s comments came in the backdrop of India’s strong resentment over U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s statement that India would be a “challenge” at the climate conference. Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar described the comments as ‘unwarranted’.
India’s role
Asserting that democratic India must grow rapidly to meet the aspirations of 1.25 billion people, 300 million of whom were without access to energy, Modi said: “The prosperous still have a strong carbon footprint but the world’s billions at the bottom of the development ladder are seeking space to grow. We will succeed if we have the wisdom to craft a collective partnership that balances responsibilities and capabilities.” While emphasizing that conventional energy was needed but it should be made clean, he noted that over next few days, nations will decide the fate of this planet.
While listing India’s ambitious targets to tackle climate change and by 2030, reducing India’s emissions by 35 per cent of 2005 levels, and 40 per cent of its installed capacity would be from non-fossil fuels, Modi said: “We do so when the consequences of the industrial age powered by fossil fuel are evident, especially on the lives of the poor.”
International Solar Alliance (ISA) Initiative
India and France have joined hands in launching the International Solar Alliance at the COP-21. India has pledged an assistance of $30 million for the initiative that brings together developed and developing countries. Indian Prime Minister Modi announced that India would host the initiative in the premises of the National Institute of Solar Energy in Gurgaon, Haryana. While announcing that India will provide land and contribute about $30 million to build the Secretariat infrastructure, PM Modi said: “We will support operations for five years, and together we will raise long terms funds to achieve our goals.”
The French President Hollande has lauded Prime Minister Modi’s initiative as a paradigm shift. UN Secretary General has also hailed the initiative saying, “I welcome the initiative of PM Narendra Modi, the UN will work to make it a success.” The idea of solar alliance was mooted by Modi during the India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi last month.
The ISA, which has invited all countries located fully or partly between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn to join, is to function from India. In its launch resolution, the ISA says it seeks to share collective ambitions to reduce the cost of finance and technology that is needed to deploy solar power widely; generation and storage technologies would be adapted to the individual countries’ needs. Among the tasks that the Alliance would pursue are, cooperation in training, building institutions, regulatory issues, common standards, and investment including joint ventures.
India has hailed ISA as the sunrise of new hope — not just for clean energy, but for villages and homes still in
darkness in different parts of the world; and for our mornings and evenings filled with a clear view of the glory of the sun. In India’s view, the solar energy would enable the developing countries to lift billions of people into prosperity and brighten the hope for a sustainable planet resting on the bold global initiative of harnessing solar energy.
Solar energy occupies immense significance for India for its onward march on the trajectory of economic growth and sustainable development. Currently, India has a capacity of 4GW and has set a target of adding 100 GW of solar power by 2022 and by the end of next year; it hopes to add 12 GW.
While emphasizing on the importance of the ISA initiative, Prime Minister Modi has said that the vast majority of humanity is blessed with generous sunlight round the year; however, he laments that many are also without any source of power. He further adds: “We want to bring solar energy into our lives and homes, by making it cheaper, more reliable and easier to connect to grid. We will collaborate on research and innovation. We will share knowledge and exchange best practices.”
While calling on advanced countries to leave enough carbon space for developing countries to grow as this would mean a growth path with lighter carbon footprint, he has emphasized that convergence between economy, ecology and energy should define our future.
In the wake of the high costs of solar energy technology, PM Modi has said that as part of the initiative, countries will cooperate on training, building institutions, discussing regulatory issues and promote common standards. He adds further: “We will attract investments in the solar sector, encourage joint ventures and develop innovative financing mechanisms. We will partner with other international initiatives on renewable energy. There is already a revolution in solar energy. Technology is evolving, costs are coming down and grid connectivity is improving. It is making the dream of universal access to clean energy has become more real.”
Broadly speaking, there are over 100 countries which are solar-rich, lying fully or partially between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. These countries, all potential members of the ISA are united by a shared vision to bring clean, affordable and renewable solar energy within the reach of all. Solar energy also is a practical and efficient way to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. With this in mind, countries have been invited by the objective of significantly augmenting solar power generation in their respective countries with a view to contributing to global, sustainable development.
Bright Prospects for Solar Energy
According to various reports published by the International Energy Agency, solar energy can make considerable contributions to solving some of the most urgent problems confronting the world presently. The development of affordable, inexhaustible and clean solar energy technologies entails huge longer-term benefits. Apart from augmenting countries’ energy security through reliance on an indigenous, inexhaustible and mostly import-independent resource, solar energy is also instrumental in enhancing sustainability, reduce pollution, lower the costs of mitigating climate change, and keep fossil fuel prices lower than otherwise. Keeping in view the universal nature of benefits accruing from solar energy, it is in the fitness of things that the additional costs of the incentives for early deployment should be considered learning investments; they must be wisely spent and need to be widely shared.
It can be evidenced from a 2011 IEA report that solar energy technologies such as photovoltaics, solar hot water and concentrated solar power could provide a third of the world’s energy by 2060 if politicians commit to limiting climate change, a promise which COP-21 is expected to yield. It is further observed that the energy from the sun could play a key role in de-carbonizing the global economy alongside improvements in energy efficiency and imposing costs on greenhouse gas emitters.
