NEW DELHI: India represented 8% of the increase in global energy-related CO2 emissions between 2000 and 2010 according to a report by US based Climate Policy Initiative (CPI). In contrast, China represented a whopping 68% of the increase in global CO2 emissions.
The study released on Monday at The Brookings Institution in Washington DC, claims to have analysed the impact of three decades of implementation of various kinds of policies to curb climate change in - India, China, Brazil, the EU, and the US. It says that impact of these policies has accelerated despite an impasse in international climate negotiations.
In India and China, most new energy generation since 2000 came from conventional sources, even though the past decade saw "exponential growth" in renewable energy especially wind, which grew 1250% from 2000-2010 says the report.
From 2005-2010, Indian states began the renewables portfolio obligations for their electricity markets. In 2010, these statewide targets translated to an 5.5% nationwide target for renewable energy.
China saw a tripling of growth rates in industrial energy consumption after 2002 and electricity generation grew by 1.5 times. At the same time, closure of inefficient coal-fired power plants saved more than 100 million tonnes of coal equivalent. From 2005 to 2010, increased enforcement of energy building codes in China saved an estimated 60 million tonnes of coal equivalent per year states the report.
Ironically, the authors claim that in US, over the past seven years, CO2 emissions have fallen by 13%. "Yet, at the national level, the US is mired in political infighting while comprehensive climate policy is nowhere in sight. The apparent contradiction should give us all food for thought," he says. The report pats US back on reductions but fails to evaluate the fact that US continues to have a very heavy emissions burden on the world, next only to China.
