Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the United Nations Secretary-General on Thursday launched the Indian government’s flagship program to encourage individual and collective action on climate.
Mission Life, where “life” is an acronym for “environmental lifestyle,” is designed to encourage individual behaviors such as turning off vehicle engines at traffic lights, turning off taps when not in use, and switching to cleaner alternatives. durable to single use. use plastic bags. The government estimates that such actions, if taken on a national scale, could significantly limit emissions, water use and waste.
The program hopes to “mobilize a billion Indians, as well as people from other countries, to become people who practice sustainable lifestyles,” Param Iyer, executive director of Niti Aayog, a government-backed think tank. which spearheads the Mission Life program together with the Federal Environment of India. and Ministry of Climate Change.
UN chief Antonio Guterres, who was at the launch of the program in the western state of Gujarat, hoped the focus on more sustainable living “can spread throughout the world”.
While they see the potential benefit of such a program to reduce emissions, climate experts are still unclear on how the project will play out.
“On an individual level, Mission Life is a welcome move, both ethically and environmentally,” said Nagraj Adve of the climate advocacy group Teachers Against the Climate Crisis.
But he added that “the program must be complemented by favorable policies, such as higher taxes on income and wealth, more expensive flights, promoting renewable energy and more public transport” to encourage changes in lifestyle.
“It remains to be seen whether the government will work to achieve all of this.”
Together with Mission Life, a conference was held in New Delhi on October 18 that addressed energy and how to transition to cleaner options.
For countries to move from fossil fuels to cleaner energy like solar power, component supply chains need to be more geographically diverse, officials said during the conference.
Currently, 75% of the components needed for solar power are made in China, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency. Representatives at the fifth assembly of the International Solar Alliance, made up of 110 member countries, want that to change.
“By 2030, we expect solar power to be the cheapest source of electricity in most geographies,” said Ajay Mathur, ISA Director General.
Adding that freight prices have skyrocketed, Mr. Mathur urged “multiple regions from which solar PV products can move from producer to supplier” to ensure more nations benefit from cheap solar prices. .
Launched by India and France at the 2015 Paris climate conference, the ISA aims to promote the use of solar energy as countries seek to reduce their use of fossil fuels to curb global warming. And while China has invested more than $50 billion in new solar power supply capacity (ten times more than Europe) and created more than 300,000 manufacturing jobs, it is not part of the alliance.
“China’s policies have contributed to a cost reduction of more than 80%, helping make solar PV the most affordable electricity generation technology in many parts of the world,” said Heymi Bahar, senior analyst at the International Energy Agency. “However, they have also led to imbalances between supply and demand.”
Mr. Bahar added that the global market is almost entirely dependent on China for solar products, with 15% of global supply coming from a single Chinese plant, raising concerns that the world is too reliant on a few supply chains. concentrated.
“This concentration has already resulted in increased prices during the Covid-19 pandemic and extreme weather events” in China when exports were interrupted, Bahar said. “Diversification will result in a more secure supply chain.”
Industry experts say a diversified supply chain can also boost jobs, grow economies, foster innovations, provide energy security and help countries meet their climate goals.
“Right now, the jobs that are being created in countries like India are mostly on the construction and installation side and not the manufacturing side,” said Ulka Kelkar, who leads India’s climate policy analysis. for the World Resource Institute. “To really benefit from the full potential of solar manufacturing job creation possibilities, it is important to diversify.”
India’s federal energy minister, RK Singh, told the conference that countries have “a responsibility to enable development in parts of the world that lack access to energy and energy security.”
The Indian federal government recently approved $2.6 billion in funding for a production-linked incentive scheme that would encourage the manufacture of home solar modules. The US Inflation Reduction Act also encourages domestic manufacturing of solar energy components.
The solar energy market must grow tenfold by the end of the decade if global climate goals are to be met, according to the ISA and the International Energy Agency.
The ISA assembly, which runs through Wednesday, also announced programs that will encourage solar energy investments in Africa, as well as help start-ups in the solar energy space.
This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP reporter Sibi Arasu contributed to this report.
Source: news.google.com