India ready to cut coal dependence if given clean-tech, funds

Leaders from around the world have convened in Paris this week to begin negotiating a landmark climate agreement that may alter the course of climate dialogue for the future.

The comments come in the back drop of US Secretary of State John Kerry's remark that India will be a "challenge" at the Paris climate change conference.

She stops and warmly greets Mathur. "They are doing it for all of us", said Saleemul Huq, director of the International Center for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh. She can bring people together. India's role at the COP21 is critical for these reasons.

In the weeks before the Paris summit, Indian negotiators blocked G20 nations from issuing an expansive climate accord.

If cash was provided to make the capital investments in renewables cheaper, India would use more sun and wind, and less coal. The CSE, under its outspoken founder Anil Agarwal, was part of the official delegation and helped articulate some of these views. India is at once the leader of the latter group and target of the former.

Developing nations additionally need assurances that the quantity will improve over time, however rich nations are loath to make new, lengthy-time period commitments.

But to slow the climate change requires a rapid shift to clean energy: mainly moving away from burning coal, oil and gas for energy. These countries are not just waiting for funds from the developed world; they are taking responsibility to also contribute to reducing greenhouse gases. There were touch screens which provided information on how India has taken adaptation measures in four regions, including conservation of coral reefs in Gulf of Mannar, glacier protection in Ladakh, heat action plans in Ahmedabad and Gujarat amongst others.

It turns out that the wind industry has been losing momentum for three years, but even if that were not the case, meeting the renewable energy targets would still necessitate solar development at a rate no country has yet achieved. Hydro, nuclear - all of these non-carbon sources - are what we will develop to the largest extent that we can.

He had said that this enhancement of renewable is "not" getting as much attention as the fact that the balance will be met by coal electricity. Some of this coal will come from Australian producers, which shipped more than 6.7 million tonnes of energy coal and 40.1 million tonnes of metallurgical coal used in steelmaking to Indian customers in 2014, the Australian Bureau of Statistics says.

Terming India's concerns on energy use as legitimate, they said India has been able to engage on those issues in good faith, exploring how faster means of implementation can help support a faster transition to renewable energy and break its reliance on coal. Most of their proposals are against India's stand. And 12 million young people are pushing each year on the country's labor market. "People have to lead a worthwhile life on a worthwhile planet".

In other words, India as a whole is responsible for a significant amount of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, but many of its people are barely consuming any energy. Prime Minister Modi was ready to do the same.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, president of the climate talks, says "there's very strong momentum" but that's not enough. It's heavily coal dependent.

Mathur admits to being surprised by "all this questioning of India's coal usage", adding "maybe we have done a poor job in communications that has led to this view". It cannot be that you can tell India to stop coal and United States to continue.

Today, the world's poorest countries pushed the developed economies to fulfill a promise to provide $100 billion to developing countries. But many here nonetheless see India as the biggest single threat to curbing Carbon dioxide emissions in the next few decades.

It is only day two of what will be hectic two-week conference in Paris.

As Arthur Neslen reports for The Guardian, the Indian government will be forking out US$30 million to establish the alliance's headquarters in India, which will then focus on raising $400m to put towards renewables.

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