India’s New Green Revolution
India's latest commitment to fight climate change defends the country's right to keep pumping out more emissions. But in the run up to Paris, it's still a big leap forward.
BY OCTOBER 2, 2015
The stakes for India’s contribution in fighting climate change are high. As the fourth largest producer of greenhouse gases, assuming the European Union’s emissions are counted collectively, what India is willing — and able — to do to curb its emissions will have a major impact on whether the international community can avoid runaway global warming. Under most business-as-usual scenarios — if it doesn’t change its behavior — the country is on the hook for some of the most significant emissions growth in the coming decades. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, India, along with China, will be responsible for nearly half of the growth in global energy demand. And as the world has readied itself for December’s summit in Paris, which will outline how the global community will deal with the increasingly pressing issue of how to deal with climate change, India’s plan has been a looming question mark.
BY OCTOBER 2, 2015
The stakes for India’s contribution in fighting climate change are high. As the fourth largest producer of greenhouse gases, assuming the European Union’s emissions are counted collectively, what India is willing — and able — to do to curb its emissions will have a major impact on whether the international community can avoid runaway global warming. Under most business-as-usual scenarios — if it doesn’t change its behavior — the country is on the hook for some of the most significant emissions growth in the coming decades. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, India, along with China, will be responsible for nearly half of the growth in global energy demand. And as the world has readied itself for December’s summit in Paris, which will outline how the global community will deal with the increasingly pressing issue of how to deal with climate change, India’s plan has been a looming question mark.
