India is leading in climate performance or efforts to mitigate climate crisis among G20 nations, the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) said in a report released on Monday.
India should use its G20 presidency to get G20 countries to acknowledge that a fair allocation of the global carbon budget is a must to take climate action forward, the report recommended.
The analysis uses a Climate Performance Index to evaluate the performance of G20 nations in climate change mitigation. It factors in the unique position of each G20 country including their historical emissions, per capita CO2 emissions, demographic factors such as population, and status of economic and human development.
India is followed by Italy and Indonesia in climate performance; the United Kingdom, Turkey, Germany, France and the European Union are runners-up; among laggards are the US, Canada, Russia and Saudi Arabia, the report concluded.
“India, an emerging economy, ranks first among all G20 members in terms of overall climate performance, owing to its significantly low per capita contributions to carbon and GHG emissions; very limited share in legacy emissions relative to its population needs; least rate of per capita energy use; and significant efforts towards, not only preserving, but also expanding its climate-regulating land cover by 6% compared its 1992 levels,” the report stated, adding that India has also done well in climate policy initiatives and limiting the unbridled expansion of climate-altering land cover.
There is considerable scope for improvement in developing energy efficiency in production and addressing inequalities in carbon footprints across different sections of the population, the report concluded. On average, the emerging economies within the G20 perform slightly better than the advanced economies.
Among the advanced economies, the overall climate performance of the European countries including Italy, France, United Kingdom, Germany and the members of the EU is considerably better than that of the North American countries.
Canada and the US score significantly low across most indicators of climate performance, particularly per capita CO2 emissions from use of fossil fuels and share of global cumulative carbon emissions relative to share of global cumulative population. Saudi Arabia shows the least progress in climate mitigation among all the G20 members—primarily owing to its high dependence on fossil fuels for economic growth.
The index uses two of the most popular indices– the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) developed by German Watch, and the Climate Action Tracker (CAT) of the Climate Analytics and New Climate Institute. But ORF’s index incorporates several new indicators including per capita CO2 emissions from fossil fuels; share of global cumulative carbon emissions relative to share of global cumulative population; Theil Index of Carbon Inequality–an indicator reflecting contribution to historic emissions; and energy efficiency of production (GDP per unit of primary energy consumption) .
Among G20 countries India also leads in climate policies, the report said. India’s climate related policies include one on electric vehicles. Electric transportation in India is set to expand significantly in the near future. The country aspires to achieve 30% electrification of its entire vehicle fleet by 2030. The National Green Hydrogen Mission envisions India as a global centre for the manufacture, use, and export of green hydrogen; and Smart Cities Mission endeavours to create cities that rely on smart solutions to provide basic infrastructure and planning.
The report also said that nationally determined contributions should be adjusted so as to allow a fair allocation of the carbon budget.
If this is done, it will mean that while the global trajectory of emissions limits global warming to below-2 degrees Celsius, the national trajectories reflect a fair allocation of the carbon budget, possibly by aiming for equal per capita CO 2 emissions tadjusted for the countries’ share in legacy emissions.
“India’s G20 presidency can work to steer an acknowledgement among nations that there is a need for a fair allocation of carbon budget if the 2030 Agenda has to be realised and no one is to be left behind,” the report recommended.
“India’s climate targets are ambitious for a country with growing energy and developmental needs, and are in line with its fair share based on its historical contribution to the climate crisis. Achieving those targets will require a tailored sectoral view and addressing of barriers to scaling up green technologies,” said Avantika Goswami, climate change lead at Centre for Science and Environment.