Union Power Minister RK Singh emphasises that the dialogue at COP28 should focus on reducing carbon dioxide emissions

Union Power Minister R K Singh has said the dialogue at COP28 should be about reducing emissions and it is for the developed countries to first cut down emissions.

“Developed countries are emitting at a faster pace than other countries 80 per cent of total legacy carbon dioxide load is contributed by developed countries, whose population is one-third of the global population,” he said in an industry event.

On the other hand, it is only 3 per cent when it comes to India’s contribution to the carbon dioxide load, though our population is 17 per cent of the world, he said.

The global per capita average is 6.8 tonne per year, while the country’s per capita emissions are 2.19 tonne per year or one-third of the global average, he said.

Hence, it is for developing countries whose per capita emissions are two to three times the global average to cut down emissions first, he implied, adding that this is what the discussion should be about at COP28.

“This is the voice of the Global South,” Singh said. Reducing carbon emissions is where the focus should be and not on the choice of fuel, he said.

“The whole battle the world is waging is on reducing emissions. It is high time the world unitedly attacked this central problem from where the emissions come. Whether emissions come from petroleum, gas, or coal is irrelevant; the question is how much one is emitting, that is what is causing the global rise in temperatures,” he said.

The minister mentioned that the discussion on coal is a dangerous diversion adopted by some developed countries to shift focus away from their emissions.

The overall situation is that if we want to limit the global rise in temperature to 1.5 degrees, the available carbon space left is just about 250 gigatons; the world is emitting at the rate of 53 gigatons every year, which gives us just 5 years, he pointed out.

“If we need to remain below this limit, the global citizen should not be emitting more than six tons per year,” he implied, adding, “While we in India are emitting only 2.19, there are countries where the per capita emissions are 12-20 tonnes per year.”

The minister pointed out that there are 733 million people in Africa who do not have access to electricity and the world is not thinking about them and is instead talking about energy transition.

“Developed countries who have been talking about energy transition have not invested in storage manufacturing capacity, which is only about 24 GW in the world. We need storage for round-the-clock renewable energy.”

“We cannot phase out fossil fuels unless we have nuclear or until storage becomes viable. We cannot have energy transition until storage is viable,” he said.

Singh said India is going to add to the volumes so that the price of storage comes down. He invited the Japanese industry to invest in India and source their requirements from India.

Discussion on coal is a dangerous diversion adopted by some developed countries to shift focus away from their emissions, he mentioned.

Overall situation is that if we want to limit global rise in temperature to 1.5 degrees, the available carbon space left is just about 250 gigatons; the world is emitting at the rate of 53 gigatons every year, which gives us just 5 years, he pointed out.

“If we need to remain below this limit, the global citizen should not be emitting more than six  tons per year,” he implied.

“While we in India are emitting only 2.19, there are countries where the per capita emissions are 12-20 tonnes per year,” he said.

The minister pointed out that we have 733 million people in Africa who do not have access to electricity, and the world is not thinking about them and is instead talking about energy transition.

“Developed countries who have been talking about energy transition have not invested in storage manufacturing capacity, which is only about 24 GW in the world. We need storage for round-the-clock renewable energy.”

“We cannot phase out fossil fuels unless we have nuclear or until storage becomes viable. We cannot have energy transition until storage is viable,” he said.

Singh said India is going to add to the volumes so that price of storage comes down.

Singh further invited the Japanese industry to invest in India and source their requirements from India.

India’s power demand is growing fast and there will be no compromise in meeting the demand, he said.