By IANS,
New Delhi : Power generation, transport, manufacture of cement and steel and building construction will be the activities in focus as India prepares a roadmap towards a low-carbon economy.
At its first meeting here Wednesday, the government’s newly-formed expert group on low carbon economy identified these area which have high carbon emissions.
The group is headed by eminent economist and former Planning Commission member (energy) Kirit Parikh.
“We have identified several areas with high carbon emissions. These include transport, power, cement, steel and construction. We will have a roadmap soon on ways to lower carbon emissions,” Parikh told reporters.
“We should stop relying on foreign data and the country will have its own roadmap on emissions,” he said after the meeting that was also attended by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.
The experts will submit their interim report in April and final report in September.
Ramesh had said earlier that the group will recommend steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, steps that can be activated by the middle of the 12th Five-Year Plan that runs from 2012 to 2017.
Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas whose emissions are leading to climate change, that in turn is already affecting farm output, making droughts, floods and storms more frequent and more severe and raising the sea level. India is one of the worst affected countries.
India’s greenhouse gas emissions are only 3-4 percent of the world total, but the planners want to move towards a low carbon development path as the Indian economy is poised to grow manifold in the next 20 years or so.
Issues that will be addressed by the expert group include:
– Review existing studies on low carbon growth/low carbon pathways for India prepared by various organisations
– Conduct further analysis, as required, to assess low carbon options for the Indian economy
– Outline how to reduce carbon emissions intensity by 20-25 percent by 2020 as part of the global effort to fight climate change
– Evaluate some key alternative low carbon options with an analysis of their cost benefit and relative merits and demerits
– Prepare a plan of critical low carbon initiatives to be undertaken
– Draw up a list of sector-specific initiatives with suggested timeline and targets
– Prepare a list of enabling legislations, rules and policies as required to operationalise the low carbon roadmap.