National Action Plan on Climate Change
India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change was launched in June 2008 and is intended to run through 2017. It calls for a wide range of actions in different sectors intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Different Indian Government Ministries are responsible for implementing the NAPCC. However, it is unclear whether or not data in being collected to assess the impact on emissions reduction related to the work of each ministry.
The goals or missions of the NAPCC include: making solar energy competitive with fossil-based energy options; mandating specific energy decreases in large energy-consuming industries that is supported by the establishment of an emissions trading system; extending the existing Energy Conservation Building code; strengthening the enforcement of automotive fuel standards; seeking to achieve a 20% improvement in water use efficiency; expanding forest cover from 23 to 33% of India’s territory; the development of climate resilient crops; the retirement of inefficient coal-fired power plants, and related measures.
The NAPCC aims to help India leapfrog to a low carbon economy using high-end and emerging technologies. However, some experts criticize the plan for putting economic growth ahead of emission reductions, saying that the government is more concerned in prioritizing development and growth to alleviate poverty without having to worry about the volume of emissions created in doing so. This ambivalence between prioritizing emission reduction goals in the face of economic development is clearly stated in India’s INDC pledge to the Paris Agreement.
Presumably there will be an assessment of the impact of the NAPCC at the end of this year, perhaps before the COP 23 meeting in Bonn in November.
Learn More
“India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change,” Harshal T. Pandve, Indian Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2822162/