Country committed to the cause, says Bangalore Climate Change Initiative, Karnataka

Members of Bangalore Climate Change Initiative, Karnataka (BCCI-K), have said that U.S. President Donald Trump’s criticism of India’s ‘inaction’ on climate change is not acceptable. India has announced that it will cut its emission intensity by 33-35% of 2005 levels by 2030, in addition to increasing its forest cover by five million hectares by 2030, they said.

The United States pledged to cut its emissions by 26-28% which was less than India’s. Moreover, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that by 2030 at least 40% of the country’s electricity would be generated from non-fossil sources, said BCCI-K mentor and Karnataka Legislative Council Chairman D.H. Shankaramurhty; BCCI-K president B.K. Chandrashekar, Anshu Bharadwaj of CSTEP; N.H. Ravindranath, Govindswamy Bala, Indu Murthy, and Rajiv Kumar Chaturvedi of IISc.; and Prof. Rajegowda, UAS, Bengaluru, in a media release on Saturday.

Karnataka can avoid GHG emissions of 70 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtC02e) in 2030, reducing the emission intensity of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) by 37%. Studies have identified several energy efficiency, renewable energy and transport sector mitigation opportunities, BCCI-K members said.

“Yet Mr. Trump points his finger at India for inaction on climate change even as he has declared several times his disbelief in the very notion of climate change and walking away from the United States commitments in Paris. India, like other developing countries, needed both funds and technology to meet its commitments. India needed around $ 2.5 trillion to fulfil all its targets. The Paris agreement placed a legally binding obligation on developed countries to provide funding to undertake adaptation and mitigation. “India is well on its way to overachieve its power sector goals. This clearly demonstrates India’s convictions on issues of climate change and global sustainability,” they said.

“Even without funding and technical assistance, India’s recent record and ongoing climate mitigation plans demonstrate the country’s commitment to global sustainability and climate change mitigation. “Mr. Trump’s criticism of India on climate policy is pitiably ill informed,” they added.