NEW DELHI, India — With a rapidly growing population and a rising economy, India is poised to become

the successful, developed country it has been working hard to achieve. Yet hunger is still a daily reality for
many in the country, and extreme hunger remains a significant detractor from India’s ability to thrive. Below
are four facts about hunger in India.

When India goes hungry, the world goes hungry.

With a population of 1.3 billion, India is home to one-third of the world’s poor. Despite a growing economy,
more than 30 percent of the population is considered to be extremely impoverished, living on less than $1.25
per day. With such levels of poverty, it comes as little surprise, that 15.2 percent of India’s population or
194.6 million people are currently undernourished. As a result, India accounts for one-fourth of the world’s
total undernourished population. In order to make ending global hunger by 2030 a reality, issues
surrounding hunger in India must be addressed.

The country’s youngest suffer the most.

According to the Wall Street Journal, 48 percent of children under age five in India are underweight,
equating to about one in four children suffering from malnutrition. Such a lack of food significantly hinders
growth in young children and presents a major setback for the development of India’s future. Worse still,
3,000 children die every day from hunger-related illnesses in India.

There is enough food, it’s just not getting to everybody.

In the past two decades, India’s GDP has increased 4.5 times previous recorded numbers. Additionally, food
production has more than doubled, and agriculture now accounts for 13.7 percent of the country’s annual
GDP. Yet 40 percent of fruits and vegetables and 20 percent of grains are lost along the supply chain and
never make it to the consumers. The problem, it would seem, is not that there isn’t enough food to go
around, but rather that the food India produces is not successfully distributed, allowing extreme hunger in
India to persist.

Hunger in India is not a forgone conclusion.

Since 1990 the proportion of undernourished in India has fallen from nearly a quarter of the population in
1990 to just 15 percent in 2014. In the last 10 years alone, the number of people who are malnourished has
fallen by more than 38 million. Hunger in India is still a significant obstacle for the country to tackle, yet
progress has been made and success stories continue to abound.

India is on the horizon of success as they take majors step towards development and prosperity. However,
hunger is still a daily reality for many in the country. The tools necessary to end hunger in India are at our
fingertips – we must now make a concentrated effort towards stopping this unnecessary struggle.
India has programmes to alleviate hunger but not
the will to enforce them
The Global Hunger Index ranks India a poor 97 among 118
countries.
The many government schemes to feed India's poor and hungry do not seem to be doing much. The
International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington has ranked India 97 among 118 countries on the
Global Hunger Index. India fared worse than all its neighbours – China, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh – except Pakistan, which is ranked 107.

The Global Hunger Index report also predicts that India will fail to achieve its Sustainable Development
Goal target of ending hunger by 2030. This despite the midday meal schemes for school children,
anganwadis systems to provide nutritious food and rations to pregnant and lactating mothers and subsidised
grains at five kilograms per person below the poverty line every month through the public distribution
system. But how much improvement can be expected in a country where social spending on health and
education is lower than sub-Saharan Africa?

Economist Reetika Khera who works on food security, health and nutrition policies blames the
government’s lackadaisical approach towards hunger. The National Food Security Act which was passed in
2013 includes three schemes that can help with improving nutrition. The schemes are implemented by
different departments of the government, each working in isolation from the other. “At the moment, the
problem is that no department is doing enough,” she said.

Improvement, but not enough

If India’s Global Hunger Index scores for 1992, 2000, and 2008 were put it in the "alarming" category as per
the report's classification, then the 2016 score is pushes it up to "serious". There has been improvement said
Jill Bernstein, one of the authors of the Global Hunger Index report. The other categories according to rank
are " extremely alarming" and "moderate".

“However, the starting point [the 1992 score] was very high and the progress has not been sufficient to bring
India into the low or even moderate category,” said Bernstein.

In 1992, India’s Global Hunger Index Score was 46.4 units which dropped to 28.5 in 2016 – an
improvement of 17.9 units. Now compare this to neighbouring Nepal which according to the 2016 report is
also classified under the "serious" category with India. Nepal’s score was 43.1 in 1992 which dropped to
21.9 in 2016, which is 21.2 units better.
More than 45 countries on the Global Hunger Index including India, Pakistan and Afghanistan will still have
“moderate” to “alarming” hunger scores in the year 2030 if they continue to reduce hunger at the same rate
since 1992.

Bernstein also pointed out India has been inconsistent in i

ts improvement.
"In the case of India, the nutrition situation of children must be a high priority," she said. "Children are the
most sensitive to periods of poor nutrition because their bodies and brains are developing so rapidly.”

Lack of coordination

“We need a convergent approach,” said Vanessa D'Souza, CEO of SNEHA, a non-profit working for
undernourished children in urban areas. “You can’t approach the issue of hunger in urban areas as you do in
rural areas. The challenges are different.”

For instance, in urban areas the anganwadis under the Integrated Child Development Scheme provide
nutrition but the municipalities are responsible for meeting the child and pregnant woman’s healthcare
needs. Members of the civil societies regularly find that the two institutions work independent of each other.

“The anganwadi worker should be able to refer the child to the health facility with ease and a health workers
should refer the child to anganwadi in case he is malnourished," said a social worker from Mumbai. "This is
not happening.”

Activists working on food security believe that India’s policies for tackling hunger have largely remained
focused on rural regions. “In urban areas, we have a problem of awareness,"said D'Souza. "The mother does
not know what to feed her child. We come across malnourished children [eating] junk food.”

Bernstein said that the government can help to ensure that mothers and children have access to healthy and
diverse foods and that parents understand what constitutes a healthy diet for their children. “Issues such as
women’s empowerment and education are also part of the big picture, and contribute to the nutrition
situation of the family,” she said. “We know that the nutrition of mothers during pregnancy and proper
nutrition for children during the first two years of their lives are vitally important and have long-lasting
consequences.”

Bernstein also stressed the role of hygiene and sanitation averting diseases like diarrhoea that rob the body
of nutrition.

Unclear data 

The Global Hunger Index report states that 15.2% of the Indian population is undernourished. At present
there are no specific government interventions to address the issue of adult undernourishment. “When
pregnant women are undernourished it leads to neonatal death and to the birth of smaller, sicker babies,”
said Diane Coffey, a visiting researcher at the Indian Statistical Institute in Delhi.

The Global Hunger Index is a multi-dimensional scale derived on the basis of undernourished population of
the country, the proportion of wasting and stunting in children and mortality in children below five years.
The Global Hunger Index scores are calculated on the basis of these parameters by studying the existing data
available in the country. The authors of the report have looked at India's National Family Health Survey data
to measure the country's efforts in addressing hunger.

But government data from which the Global Hunger Index has been constructed has not been released
publicly for researchers to study relationships between variables. “Individual level data helps researchers
understand the nature of the nutrition problem much better than the very simple factsheets that have been
released,” said Coffey.
Need healthcare, employment

D'Souza who works on malnutrition in urban areas said that a stable employment would help improve the
well-being of both undernourished mother and her child. In rural areas too, scarcity of jobs has led to
migration which makes families including children more vulnerable to hunger.

A senior health official from Maharashtra, a state which recently received a notice from the National Human
Right Commission for malnutrition deaths in Palghar district, said migration was the main cause for
malnutrition in the state. “The couple takes the child away to a neighbouring state where they are not
registered with the system and don’t receive the necessary care," he said. "When they come back, the child’s
health has deteriorated and when we start improving the child’s health, they again disappear.”

Another problem is the lack of access to healthcare facilities. Most rural areas don’t have a child-specialist
to treat children with severe and moderate malnutrition. Purnima Upadhyay, an activist working with the
non-profit organisation Khoj, found that many health centres in Melghat district do not have basic drugs.
“There was a stock-out of paracetamol,” said Upadhay. “It is only when the media reports and the courts
order that the government starts functioning. Otherwise it is a complete systemic failure.”

Upadhyay frequently comes across cases where women are unable to take benefits of monetary government
schemes. “Mothers are entitled money after they give birth," she said. "Most don’t end up getting it as the
banks are too far. This money could have helped them to care for the child.”

Economist Khera said that under the universal maternity entitlement scheme, Rs 6,000 is given per child to a
mother. “However, the government has done nothing to operationalise maternity entitlements, and efforts of
strengthen the Integrated Child Development Scheme and Midday Meal Programmes.” In fact she pointed
out that instead of including nutritious food items such as eggs on the menu various state governments are
stalling it.
In order to achieve its zero hunger target of Zero Hunger set by the United Nations may need to stop drafting
new schemes but instead consider implementing them effectively.
Zero hunger programme

Adopted just over a year after the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the World Food Programme
(WFP)’s Strategic Plan for 2017-2021 aligns the organization’s work to the 2030 Agenda’s global call to
action, which prioritizes efforts to end poverty, hunger and inequality, encompassing humanitarian as
well as development efforts.

The Strategic Plan is guided by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set forth in the 2030 Agenda,  in
particular SDG 2 on ending hunger and SDG 17 on revitalizing global partnerships for implementation of
the SDGs. It ushers in a new planning and operational structure, including the implementation of results-
based country portfolios that will maximize WFP’s contribution to governments’ efforts towards
achieving the SDGs.

Responding to emergencies and saving lives and livelihoods – either through direct assistance, or by
strengthening country capacities – remains at the heart of WFP’s operations, especially as humanitarian
needs become increasingly complex and protracted.

At the same time, WFP will support countries in ensuring no one is left behind by continuing to build
resilience for food security and nutrition and addressing the growing challenges posed by climate change
and rising inequality.

Mirroring the structure of the 2030 Agenda, each of the Plan’s two Strategic Goals – support countries to
achieve Zero Hunger and partner to support implementation of the SDGs – is articulated through Strategic
Objectives and Strategic Results, against which progress can be measured.

WFP’s Strategic Goals, Objectives and Results are:

Strategic Goals Strategic Objectives Strategic Results

 1. Everyone has access to food (SDG Target 2.1)
 1. End hunger by
protecting access to  2. No one suffers from malnutrition (SDG Target
food 2.2)
 1. Support countries to
achieve zero hunger (SDG
 2. Improve nutrition  3. Smallholders have improved food security and
2)
nutrition through improved productivity and incomes
 3. Achieve food (SDG Target 2.3)
security
 4. Food systems are sustainable (SDG Target 2.4)
 5. Developing countries have strengthened capacities
to implement the SDGs (SDG Target 17.9)

 6. Policies to support sustainable development are

   4. Support SDG coherent (SDG Target 17.14)
implementation
 2. Partner to support  7. Developing countries access a range of financial
implementation of the SDGs  5. Partner for SDG resources for development investment (SDG Target
(SDG 17) results 17.3)

 8. Sharing of knowledge, expertise and technology,

strengthen global partnership support to country
efforts to achieve the SDGs (SDG Target 17.16)

 
Implementation of the Strategic Plan (2017–2021) is being adapted in response to local contexts,
capacities and partnerships. Country Strategic Plans will determine the Strategic Results to which WFP
will contribute in each country, dependent upon the specific situation and dynamics of that country and
aligning with national priorities and goals, including the achievement of national SDG targets.

Governments
Governments are the principal source of funding for WFP; the organisation receives no dues or portions of
the UN assessed contributions. On average, over 60 governments underwrite the humanitarian and
development projects of WFP. All government support is on an entirely voluntary basis. 

Corporations
Through corporate-giving programmes, individual companies can make a vital contribution to fighting
hunger. Corporate donations of cash, product or services can help free up scarce resources to help WFP feed
more hungry people. In turn, corporations engage their employees, customers and other stakeholders in a
vital, life-saving mission.  

Recent donations from private and not-for-profit entities have included frontline support to several
emergency operations; expertise to enhance WFP's logistics and fundraising capacities; and critical cash for
school feeding. 

Individuals
Individuals can make a difference in the lives of the hungry. A personal donation can provide : 

 Emergency food rations during a crisis

 Special food for hungry children in schools. 
 Food incentives to encourage poor families to send their girls to school.
 Food as payment for people to rebuild schools, roads and other infrastructure in the wake of
conflicts and natural disasters.

Individuals can also support WFP's work in other ways. 

Whether due to conflicts, natural disasters or policy failures, food security and nutrition are at risk in many
parts of the world – even as globalization drives economic, social and technological growth. Across nations
and continents, citizens increasingly share expectations of accountability and good governance. Against this
backdrop, governments have unanimously adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): these
represent the broadest attempt so far to tackle multiple challenges, including persistent poverty, hunger and
malnutrition.

Achieving Zero Hunger (Goal 2) means that States must be able to draft and implement policies that
promote food security and nutrition objectives. These underpin nations’ capacity to withstand shocks and
stress factors which limit the availability of food or constrain access to it. To be relevant and effective, food
security and nutrition policies must be rooted in strong governance, responsive institutions and an enabling
environment. A combination is often involved of disaster risk management plans, robust social protection
systems and inclusive economic and social programmes.

The World Food Programme (WFP) offers nationally-tailored technical assistance and capacity
development to strengthen individual government capacities in all of these fields. We respond to
capacity gaps identified through an assessment process that is led by the partner government, facilitated by
ourselves, and supported by other partners.
This process helps identify national demand for capacity strengthening along five critical pathways, as
relevant to achieving national food security and nutrition objectives:

 Policies and legislation

 Institutional accountability
 Strategic planning and financing
 National programme design and delivery
 Engagement and participation of non-state actors

These areas also guide WFP’s offer of technical assistance and capacity strengthening. Demand for WFP
assistance must be articulated around national development priorities, critical needs and available
resources. Appropriate sustainable food security and nutrition solutions are jointly decided by the national
government and all development partners, including ourselves. These solutions may entail enhancing
capacity for emergency preparedness and response, logistics, and supply chain management;
strengthening risk reduction capabilities through social safety nets; and bolstering climate risk
management, adaptation and resilience. Frequently included in country programmes is support to local
market developmentand capacity building in crosscutting areas such as nutrition  and HIV/AIDS
programmes.

Both technical assistance and capacity strengthening may be provided through WFP’s own staff and as part
of its programme activities, or through the deployment of external experts. WFP may also facilitate the
transfer of knowledge by third parties, for example through South-South or Triangular Cooperation
models, which promote peer-to-peer sharing of best practices between developing nations.

By adopting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the international community has signalled its
determination to transform lives to an unprecedented degree by 2030. This commitment extends to reaching
SDG 2, on achieving Zero Hunger,and SDG 17, on partnering to support implementation of the SDGs, goals
that require extraordinary levels of technical know-how and operational capability to achieve. While
responsibility for eradicating hunger and malnutrition lies with the national governments, WFP has
committed to working with them as they advance toward fulfilling these goals.

Multiple contingencies complicate the picture. Nations are at varying stages of overall development, with
different economic systems, social and demographic profiles, poverty levels, or agricultural and food
distribution capacities. Some countries are at peace; others, at war. Protracted conflict, as seen in Syria, has a
vastly detrimental effect on food security.

Mass population displacement raises immense logistical difficulties: as some nations’ population shrinks,
their neighbours’ swells. Even in peaceful settings, the SDGs’ new emphasis on nutrition overlays
the traditional pursuit of plentiful food with a focus on the quality of it. And while the interlocking of
global and local challenges is peculiar to each country, the 2030 Agenda – as the world’s blueprint for
development has become known – is the responsibility of all.

This is why the World Food Programme (WFP) is radically rethinking its approach to combatting hunger
and malnutrition. We are adapting and differentiating our strategies, methodologies and solutions to
meet  distinct national needs. While our programmes have always been inclusive, we now systematically
put national stakeholders in the driving seat, with ourselves as enablers. And where our interventions have
often been discrete, we now aim to ensure that all programming, in any one country, is strategically
coordinated to help that country achieve Zero Hunger.
This new approach, is more integrated and diversified, is implemented through Country Strategic Plans
(CSPs). Each CSP is designed to be unique. It will incorporate a Country Office’s entire humanitarian and
development portfolio, subsuming all programmes and projects into clearly defined Strategic Outcomes.

It will be informed by a country-led Zero Hunger Strategic Review, outlining the contribution of all
stakeholders, including WFP’s distinct value proposition, for the achievement of SDG 2. It will take its cue
from the priorities set by the country in question, following evaluations, assessments and
consultations;involving government, development and humanitarian agencies, institutional actors and civil
society. Flexible budgeting will enhance the seamless integration of any emergency interventions.

Expected to be drawn up for a period of up to 5 years, the Country Strategic Plans allow WFP to overcome
a legacy of programme fragmentation, internal coordination gaps and high transaction costs,while further
aligning interventions with those of our sister agencies, the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), as well as UNICEF and other
donors and partners.

Once focused on the delivery of food to hungry people, programme design at the World Food Programme
(WFP) continues to evolve into a much more elaborate function in response to an increasingly complex
humanitarian and development environment. This is because:

 Responding to the evolving nature of food insecurity and international development assistance, the
shift from food aid to food assistance has repositioned WFP from a provider of food to that of
broader hunger solutions. This has opened up a palette of programming options, both in terms of
the objectives pursued (often more than one) and the best way to achieve them. Each of these
options, in turn, is subject to comprehensive assessments, analyses, consultations and evaluation
procedures.

 The new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)acknowledge global development as requiring

both multi-disciplinary and cross-cutting efforts. The SDGs’ interdependent and mutually
reinforcing nature supposes a much higher level of harmonization than before, both within WFP and
between WFP and its partners. 

 WFP’s transition to Country Strategic Plans, now underway, stems from a recognition that
effective programming requires integrated, country-specific and government-owned
intervention strategies that can bridge the divide between humanitarian and development
responses.

 New standards of quality and accountability in programming are multiplying the need for
consultations at all levels – with governments, internally, with donors, with partners, and with the
affected populations.

It stands to reason that programme design should also be tailored to local contexts. The objectives,
intervention strategies and implementation modalities will indeed vary greatly between, say, an emergency
intervention following a natural disaster and a situation in which the primary target is chronic malnutrition;
or between conflict settings and peaceful ones, or between contexts which require in-kind food assistance
and those where the market infrastructure allows for cash transfers.

Overall, however, and irrespective of its particulars, a well-designed programme will be:

 based on clearly identified food and nutrition needs;

 rooted in local contexts and livelihoods;
 informed by best practices;
 aligned with existing or planned policies and strategies;
 realistic, adaptable and results-oriented;
 and measurable over a range of indicators.
The programme in question must also have undergone vigorous consultation, apt to generate consensus
internally and externally. By the same token, gender sensitivity is now a mandatory part of project design,
in an effort to ensure that the different needs of men, women, boys and girls are met, and that the
programme contributes to greater equality and transformative change.

Above all, delivering the most appropriate and timely form of food assistance to the most vulnerable, in any
given situation, remains WFP’s overriding objective.

In more than half a century of humanitarian engagement, we have learned that fighting hunger is not a
straightforward proposition. It requires collective action on various levels, aimed at various groups, drawing
on various contexts and including various stakeholders. We have learned that fighting hunger involves not
just delivering food, but also transferring cash; not just transferring cash, but transferring knowledge; not
knowledge in a void, but knowledge that makes local sense; and not just knowledge we own, but knowledge
derived from conversations of equals.

The diversity of national settings, the gradations of peace and conflict, a changing climate and the
complexity of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development all dictate that the World Food Programme
(WFP)’s offer must be subtly calibrated, made up of an expanding range of tools and approaches. Used
singly or in combination, always tailored and never identical, these tools and approaches express our current
thinking about the best way to achieve Zero Hunger.

In practical terms, our offer consists of:

 food assistance supplied directly to families or individuals, in kind or as cash, itself physical or
electronic;
 country capacity strengthening – or direct support to national stakeholders, whether governments or
civil society, to design and implement Zero Hunger strategies and programmes;
 and South-South and triangular cooperation – that is, the facilitation of exchanges of experience;
knowledge; policy support; cash or in-kind contributions; or other forms of assistance, among two or
more developing countries, to advance national humanitarian or development goals.
 Whether it is delivering assistance in the midst of conflict or helping in the aftermath of a natural
disaster, the World Food Programme (WFP) is required to respond readily to crises or
emergencies. Being accountable to the people we serve and those that provide funds, we need to
measure performance and demonstrate results while meeting the needs of beneficiaries.
 WFP works with partners on the ground to assess needs and support programmes to reach zero
hunger. As we plan, design, implement and report on our activities, we are also responsible for
monitoring and evaluating our efforts, and take every opportunity to learn first-hand from our
operations and projects.
 Continuous monitoring of achievements and overall performance generates the information and data
to tell WFP and its partners if the approaches chosen are successful. Learning from that evidence is
necessary in order to adjust projects and report effectively on results.
 Regular, independent evaluations are needed to determine whether we are doing the right thing, if
we are achieving results and whether or not we could do thing differently. This ensures both
accountability to donors and learning for the organization.
 Good nutrition is widely recognized to be an essential element in the ability to lead a healthy and
productive life. Yet poor nutrition remains a critical global problem: Each year, more children die
as a result of undernutrition than of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.
 Recent years have seen unprecedented global attention to nutrition, particularly following The
Lancet medical journal’s 2008 and 2013 series on maternal and child nutrition, which highlighted the
enormous health and economic consequences of undernutrition. Ending malnutrition by 2030 is a
core element of the Sustainable Development Goals and underpins WFP’s work towards Zero
Hunger.
 The effects of malnutrition are devastating and far reaching. It not only causes loss of life, but
also weakens immune systems and increases risk of disease. It lower the success rate in education
 and employment, ultimately leading to the loss of productivity and well-being of communities and
nations. It is both a result and driver of poverty and inequality.
 As well as designing programmes that directly treat and prevent malnutrition, the World Food
Programme (WFP) works to develop national capacity for finding long-term solutions, and to
influence the broader policy dialogue on food and nutrition security.
 Along with our direct nutrition interventions, we are integrating nutrition considerations into other
areas of our work – even those that previously did not have improved nutrition as an explicit goal –
in order to address the underlying causes of malnutrition. We work with partners across sectors
such as health, agriculture, education and social protection to create environments that foster
good nutrition.
 Undernutrition takes the greatest toll on young children. Nearly half of all child deaths are related
to undernutrition – more than any other cause of mortality. Undernourished children who survive
early childhood are likely to be stunted, and cannot reach their full mental and physical potential.
The burden of undernutrition stays with them for life: Stunted children are more likely to have lower
education levels and lifetime earnings, as well as increased risks of chronic disease and early
mortality.
 Research confirms that the 1,000-day period from conception to a child’s second birthday offers
a critical window of opportunity to prevent the largely irreversible damage done by early
childhood undernutrition. Not only do pregnant women and nursing mothers have special nutritional
needs themselves, but children whose mothers are malnourished before and during pregnancy are
likely to be born already malnourished, creating an intergenerational cycle of undernutrition.
he impact of climate change is one of the most critical concerns today. Some argue that the day of reckoning
has already arrived — according to the United Nations, 90% of recorded major natural disasters from 1995
to 2015 have been linked to climate and weather. The economic costs have been huge. Take the 2015
Chennai floods; a study by Swiss Re suggests that the floods caused an economic loss of $2.2 billion
(including insured losses of $755 million), making this the second costliest insurance event in India’s
history.

Extreme climatic events are impacting businesses around the world by damaging infrastructure and
disrupting supply chains. Ironically, this complex challenge gets incorrectly classified as a long-term threat
and is often excluded from contemporary corporate decision-making.

This is problematic for corporates and the communities they serve. The Paris climate accord requires
immediate action to reduce dependency on fossil fuel. By postponing action, corporates are exposing
themselves to a variety of risks.

Corporate India, at a minimum, has to urgently familiarise itself with the significant amount of work that has
been done by governments and the scientific community to understand and explain climate change impacts.

Corporates can supplement the available government research with specific studies commissioned by them
to evaluate the impacts of climate change in the areas where they operate.

The growing risks of climate change make it incumbent upon corporates to enhance their strategic focus on
the traditional three “R”s — Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. This is integral to the increasingly popular
concept of the circular economy, where resources are circulated within the system releasing minimal waste,
and which emphasises sustainable supply chain management. As the pressure on natural resources grows, it
is companies that learn to do better in a resource-constrained environment that succeed.

To help in the migration to more climate-friendly processes, corporates can consider adopting measurement
frameworks and tools such as an internal carbon price for business planning. A shadow carbon price is
useful in evaluating different scenarios while taking operational decisions, and highlights the regulatory and
asset obsolescence risks of future investments.

Corporates must also embrace the business opportunities associated with the adoption of new climate
friendly technologies. With sharp declines in cost, these present corporates an unprecedented opportunity to
leapfrog to a more sustainable future; this is not dissimilar to the manner in which corporate India has
embraced mobile communications technology.

In the proximate future, corporates will be obliged to disclose the risks they face from climate change
impacts. Indeed, regulators around the world are already evaluating the extent to which corporates must
accurately forecast and disclose to their investors and other stakeholders the vulnerability of their businesses
to climate change.

It is because of these critical impacts on their strategies that many forward-looking corporates are now
locating action on climate change within their strategy development departments. Indeed, the sustainability
agenda is now becoming a part of mainstream corporate strategy development.

This year is likely to see Indian CEOs, particularly from companies that have an international footprint,
tested for their ability to offer visionary leadership in responding to climate change.
A successful India is good for the world
It will have a huge impact in achieving global goals, such as addressing climate change and overcoming
communicable diseases

Kristalina Georgieva

Dharavi’s jumble of cramped tenement blocks is proof of India’s potential. Photo: Hindustan Times

Down the winding, narrow alleys of one of the world’s largest informal settlements is a revelation.

The Dharavi Transit Camp Municipal School in the teeming metropolis of Mumbai is educating the most
vulnerable and excluded children. Those with special needs—cerebral palsy, autism, as well as hearing,
visual and speech impairments—receive therapy and rehabilitation and join other pupils in regular classes.

This example of how the government of India is delivering services to the most vulnerable is a hopeful sign
for the country. By making sure that even the most vulnerable have a chance to participate in society, the
government is helping the country to benefit from the productive potential of as many of its citizens as
possible.

Dharavi’s jumble of cramped tenement blocks is proof of this potential. As one of the world’s largest
informal settlements, it is also home to countless informal businesses that have an estimated annual turnover
of $1 billion.

India’s economic dynamism—even visible in Dharavi—is part of the story that has turned India into a bright
spot in the global economy. The World Bank is forecasting 7% economic growth in India this year, making
the country the fastest growing large economy. The implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) and
government expansion of infrastructure investments, as indicated in the recent budget, should further
support economic expansion. This growth is good news for Dharavi’s inhabitants as well as for the millions
of other people in India who are working hard to become more prosperous. With economic growth comes an
expanding horizon of opportunity.

I drew a number of conclusions from my first visit to India as the World Bank’s chief executive officer,
reflecting what I saw and what I heard in a variety of meetings.

The first is that the world needs a successful India. India is a low middle-income country with growing
global impact. A successful India can help boost global growth. This will help the world end poverty and
become more prosperous. A successful India will have a huge impact in achieving global goals, such as
addressing climate change and overcoming communicable diseases.

A second conclusion is that India faces challenges in transforming itself from a low to a high middle-income
country. Economic growth is good news. But for economic growth to be sustained it must be more inclusive
in raising the living standards of the most marginalized and vulnerable. This means giving the poor and
women a fair share of India’s growing prosperity. It means ensuring that India’s youth are offered the skills
training for better-paying jobs.

The school in Dharavi is an example of delivering services in a demanding urban setting. As more Indians
move from the countryside to cities, it will become more challenging to meet the aspirations of a rapidly
urbanizing country. People will expect investments in transport, skills and many other areas. The World
Bank is investing in India and these investments—in transport, skills training, climate change, to mention
just a few—can help India to draw in funds from other investors.
In addressing rapid urbanization, one should not forget that most Indians still live in rural areas. Their
livelihoods depend on agriculture. What is already a hard way to make a living is becoming harder still due
to the rapid depletion of water resources and climate change. Indian agriculture will need to become more
climate resilient to continue delivering crop yields as the climate heats up. As the country’s leaders are
aware, India as a whole will need to address the long-term issues of environmental sustainability.

An example for this was the subject of constructive discussions during my visit: the Indus Waters Treaty
between India and Pakistan to which the World Bank is a signatory.

Dating from 1960, this treaty has withstood tensions between India and Pakistan, including conflict, and
continues today to provide a framework for irrigation and hydropower development.

The treaty continues to be an important source of stability and cooperation, but it faces new pressures. Along
with burgeoning populations and soaring water use, we now also have climate change. In the first 45 years
treaty disagreements were settled by the Indus Water Commission. In the past 12 years, the most contentious
of these have been elevated to a neutral expert and a court of arbitration.

What these last 12 years tell us is that South Asia needs to find ways to manage growing demands more
sustainably for the benefit of all. Disagreements about water are not just inter-state, but also intra-state.
What is needed is a regional integrated water resources management approach. This would include water,
soil and erosion, and land-use management planning to increase agricultural productivity, hydropower
production, and conservation of natural resources while protecting the ecosystems of the Indus and other
major rivers across South Asia.

Environmental sustainability will provide a more sustainable future for India’s people—for their sake and
for the contribution a successful India would make to the world. It is wonderful to see signs of this future on
display in India today.

Kristalina Georgieva is chief executive officer of the World Bank.

Comments are welcome at theirview@livemint.com

Kristalina Georgieva

India may never need another coal plant: TERI

Published on 13/02/2017, 1:17pm

Power stations running or under construction will meet demand up to 2026, say analysts, by which point
renewables can start to compete on cost

Shift away from polluting coal depends on clean energy costs falling (Pic: VM2827/Flickr)

By Megan Darby

India has enough coal plants running or under construction to meet demand until 2026, according to a
leading Delhi-based research centre.

By that point, renewables and energy storage could be cheap enough to provide all new capacity, the Energy
and Resources Institute (TERI) reckons.
It raises the prospect that one of the world’s fastest-growing carbon emitters may stop adding coal power
stations within years and close the last plants around 2050.

“Our report shows that the cost of renewable electricity and its storage is on a steady decline and could
stabilise at around 5 rupees per kilowatt-hour,” said TERI director general Ajay Mathur. “This would enable
India to move decisively towards renewables for future generation.”

Report: Women’s mosque goes solar in India clean energy push

With an estimated 240 million Indians off the grid (2015 figure) and millions more facing frequent
blackouts, India has huge latent energy demand. The government has promised to electrify every village by
May 2017 and every household by December 2018.

Experts say there is a long way to go, with a village classed as electrified even if only 10% of its inhabitants
have a power connection.

To meet that demand, 50GW of coal plants are being built alongside a targeted 175GW of renewable
capacity by 2022. But some existing power stations have been idling as the network infrastructure struggles
to keep pace – and air pollution is a growing concern.

“Universal access to electricity is one of the primary aims of the government, and meeting demand is a
major facet of this initiative,” said energy minister Piyush Goyal at the TERI report launch in New Delhi on
Monday.

“India is also committed to lowering the emissions intensity of its development in line with our [climate
pledge] towards the Paris Agreement. We are looking at several initiatives towards making solar energy
price competitive to coal.”

Weekly briefing: Sign up for your essential climate politics update

A year ago, a mammoth 420MW solar farm in Rajasthan bid in power at 4.34R/kWh, comparable to the 3-
5R/kWh for a new coal plant. Rooftop panels don’t have quite the same economies of scale,
but manufacturing costs are falling rapidly. Batteries to store electricity when the sun is not shining will also
be critical to end reliance on coal.

In its high renewable scenario, TERI assumes the combined cost of clean power and balancing the grid will
reach 5R/kWh by 2027. That pathway is “not a certainty” but a “reasonable probability”, the report states.

Researchers also mapped a low renewable scenario, in which clean energy installations fall short of the
target and 267GW of coal is added by 2030.

The World Coal Association said TERI’s analysis was not credible and coal was likely to be the most
affordable source of power until 2035.

“India’s energy needs are too huge for any suggestion that it will not need coal in the future,” said the trade
body’s CEO Benjamin Sporton.

Initiatives like the International Solar Alliance championed by prime minister Narendra Modi at the 2015
Paris climate summit aim to bring down the costs of shifting to clean energy.

India’s energy revolution accelerates, as solar costs

near coal
Published on 21/04/2016, 4:08pm

Recent energy auctions suggest solar prices are falling fast in India, but we need to see whether these
projects are actually delivered on time, at such low prices

(credit: Pixabay)

By Gerard Wynn

Solar power is still more expensive than coal in India, but the recent trend is downwards, where the
latest data suggest that solar could catch up with coal by around 2020.

Regarding coal, one source for projected cost of new coal-fired power generation comes from the
International Energy Agency.

In its latest World Energy Outlook (WEO), the IEA estimated a cost range for coal-fired power of $0.05-
0.06/ kWh, in 2020, reflecting a price range for imported coal of $60-85 per tonne (see the chart below from
the IEA’s WEO 2015).

As you can see below, the IEA sees LNG gas-fired power generation ranging from $0.06 t0 $0.1 per kWh,
in 2020.

Regarding solar PV, bid prices have been falling quite sharply, in recent reverse auctions run by India’s
state-owned utility, NTPC, for attractive, low-risk, plug and play solar parks, where land and transmission
facilities are provided.

NTPC achieved a record low tariff in January 2016 of Rupees 4.34/ kWh ($0.07). That represented a steady
reduction from above 5 Rupees in the second half of last year.

Supporting continued solar cost reductions, India has an ambitious target to increase installed solar capacity
by around 20-fold by 2022, to 100 gigawatts, from just under 6 GW as of the beginning of March.

And the country faces environmental pressures and energy security pressures which both add to motives to
diversify away from the current reliance on coal.
But we have to watch this space; these recent cost reductions were achieved in solar parks with a reliable
state-owned off-taker.

Now we have to wait and see whether these projects are actually delivered on time, at such low prices, and
what the price trend is going forwards.

Further expansion of renewables faces some of the same infrastructural difficulties as coal, including land
clearances required to boost transmission through “green energy corridors”.

And India has a higher cost local manufacturing of solar and wind power equipment, compared with China,
for example.

Gerard Wynn is an energy writer and consultant. This article first appeared on his blog. Follow him
@gerardfwynn

India to halt building new coal plants in 2022

Draft government plan finds no need for new coal stations beyond those already under construction, calls for
massive renewable energy push

(Pic: Joe Le Merou/Flickr)

By Karl Mathiesen

India needs no extra coal power stations until at least 2027, according to the government’s latest draft
National Electricity Plan.

The plan, released by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) for public consultation, makes no room
for further generation capacity beyond the 50GW coal fleet that is under construction.

The plan covers two five-year periods beginning in 2017 and 2022. The first period allows for the
completion of those plants already being built. But after that, the CEA is planning for zero new
thermal power generation before 2027.

“As coal based capacity of 50,025MW [50GW] is already under construction which is likely to yield
benefits during 2017-22, this coal based capacity would fulfil the capacity requirement for the years 2022-
27,” the plan said.

At the same time, the report aims to add 100GW of solar and wind. These renewable energy additions would
more than double India’s clean energy capacity.

This would put India on course to far exceed its pledges to the Paris agreement, said Siddharth Singh,
associate fellow at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in New Delhi.

Narendra Modi’s government has promised to get 40% of  its electricity from non-fossil sources (renewable
and nuclear) by 2030, with finance and technology sharing from wealthier countries.

The CEA proposal would mean the non-fossil share would increase to 53% as early as 2027, up from 31%
today, without relying on international support.
“This is indeed significant,” said Singh. “Although historically India has lagged behind these targets.”

On Wednesday, energy minister Piyush Goyal said that 11GW of more efficient coal generation would be
brought online to replace older, highly polluting plants within the next five years.

These retirements would shut down all plants older than 25 years that are operated by state-owned NTPC,
India’s largest utility, which operates about a quarter of the coal power plants in the country. Goyal called on
all states to follow suit.

“That one action alone will not only help us bring in more efficiency in the operation of thermal plants, but
will help us reduce millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide that is being generated by the age-old plants. It will
help us reignite economic activity in the power sector,” he said.

Greenpeace India said the policy shift amounted to a validation from the government for its finding in a
recent report that the country does not need more coal power generation to service its growing electricity
demand.

According to Greenpeace, there is roughly 178GW of additional thermal coal power in various stages of
planning in India. But the CEA plan makes no room for most of that to progress until at least 2027.

“We welcome the draft plan’s recognition that there is no longer any economic or development rationale for
new investments in coal power plants for the foreseeable future,” said Nandikesh Sivalingam, climate and
energy campaigner at Greenpeace India. “With India’s renewable energy sector taking off, it is now possible
to reduce poverty, improve living standards and provide power for all.”

The plan estimates that demand for coal would be less than the 2020 coal mining target of one billion tonnes
per year set by the government in 2015 and then reportedly withdrawn earlier this year. The CEA estimated
that the total coal requirement would be 727Mt in 2021-22, rising to 901Mt in 2026-27.

This would include 50Mt of imported coal, as some Indian plants are designed to run on higher quality coal.
Still, it represents a drop of 23Mt from last year’s import figure.

That news will shake prospects for Australia’s planned Carmichael coal mega-mine in the Galilee basin,
which is intended to supply India’s power sector, under the operation of Indian firm Adani.

The Indian Ocean, Climate Change, And Failing

Monsoons
Published Mon 13th February 2017

A previously underwater Hindu Kovil in the old Maskeliya town resurfaces after the water levels in the
Maskeliya reservoir fall as a result of this long-lasting drought.

While on the other side of the world, scientists in America battle with the highest office in country to come
to terms with anthropogenic climate change, for a little island in the Indian Ocean, the reality of climate
change is becoming all too real a little too soon. The proof of it is written, metaphorically of course, in the
warming of the Indian Ocean, which has resulted in a drastic reduction of the phytoplankton population in
the Ocean, and the weakening of the monsoon. This means trouble ‒ not just for Sri Lanka, but the entire
South Asian region.

Brewing Trouble
Over the last century, the Indian Ocean has been warming at a faster rate than other oceans of the world,
with “a rapid and continuous basin-wide warming (taking place) since 1950,” climate scientist Dr. Roxy
Mathew Koll of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology told Roar. For that matter, according to Dr.
Koll’s research, the change measured is between 0.7 to 1.2°C, while the global mean change is 0.8°C.

Dr. Koll explains that the Indian Ocean has warmed two to three times faster in comparison to the central
tropical Pacific. The warming can be partly attributed to increased levels of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere, in addition to the Indian Ocean being relatively landlocked in the north, unlike the Pacific and
Atlantic Oceans.

Dr. Koll added that, as a result, “the ocean circulation is restricted from flushing out the heat to the poles,”
and therefore the heat pile-up persists for a longer time. In addition, heat in the Indian Ocean accumulates
through “a modified atmospheric circulation” due to El Nino-like conditions in the Pacific. He observed that
“the magnitude and frequency of El Ninos have gone up in the recent decades, and so has the ocean
temperatures in the Indian Ocean.”  

Consequences
Pottuvil Lagoon, as seen from above on January 31. Even lagoons on the east coast of the country are
reeling from the drought.

Dr. Koll has identified two main problems: a temperamental monsoon, and an affected food web.

Where the monsoon is concerned, he explained that while there is an increase of moisture in the atmosphere,
the monsoon winds transporting moisture is weakened, spelling trouble for the South Asian subcontinent in
many ways.  On one hand, this will result in a decrease in rains over central South Asia, but on the other
hand, equatorial regions will see an increase in rainfall. He added that “though we have not specifically
focused on the rainfall changes over Sri Lanka, we see a slight increase in rainfall due to its proximity to the
region where the warming has occurred.”

What this means is that we’re all in for bipolar weather: the warmer climate has ensured that the atmosphere
can hold moisture for a longer period, which will result in long dry spells interspersed with extreme rainfall.

Unfortunately for Sri Lanka, Dr. Koll’s predictions hit very close to home in 2016. The floods which arrived
unannounced in May 2016 were soon followed by drastically dry conditions, leading to the worst drought in
four decades, one that hadn’t seen an end even during the first two months of 2017. According to reports, the
World Food Program (WFP) has pointed out that based on data, Sri Lanka has only felt 50% of the brunt of
the current prevailing drought and needs to get its “resources in place” if it is to face the challenges of food
security.

The Samanala Dam is part of the second largest hydroelectric scheme in the country, producing 405 GWh
annually. As a result of the worst drought in 40 years, some places in the reservoir have almost dried out
completely. The brown patches of land seen in this picture are normally supposed to be under water.

If that wasn’t worrying enough, both Sri Lanka and India are facing issues related to groundwater. In a paper
published on January 9, 2017, for the journal Nature GeoScience*, a group of scientists point out that
“analyses of satellite and local well data spanning the past decade [show] that long-term changes in
monsoon precipitation are driving groundwater storage variability in most parts of India either directly by
changing recharge or indirectly by changing abstraction.” Their findings show that “Declining precipitation
in northern India is linked to Indian Ocean warming, suggesting a previously unrecognised teleconnection
between ocean temperatures and groundwater storage.”
Where Sri Lanka is concerned, speaking to the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), it was
understood that groundwater levels have ‒ even without factoring in climate change ‒ been under
considerable duress over the past few years. The country’s aquifers in Kalpitiya, Jaffna, Colombo, and
Gampaha, as well as the regolith aquifers, have been affected by pollution, over-extraction, and sealing of
land covers. With climate change conditions entering the fray, recharge of our groundwater supplies also
take a hit.

Herath Manthrithilake, Head of the Sri Lanka Development Initiative of the IWMI, explains that although
the intensity of rainfall has increased, it also only rains for a short period of time. This means that there is
hardly any time for rainwater to penetrate the soil and recharge our groundwater supplies. Therefore,
recharge is either slow, or will not take place at all. When it does rain, the rainwater rushes downslope as
runoff and joins the river channels, which cannot accommodate such large volumes of water, resulting in
floods. Alongside retardation of groundwater recharge is increased abstraction of groundwater for drinking
and agricultural use.

Manthrithilake stresses that recharge programmes, like those in Gujarat in India, aimed at soil and water
conservation must be embarked on with earnest, and at the earliest, to mitigate the impact of climate change.
He explains that there are known and simple technologies which can be adopted, and cautions that if Sri
Lanka does not act fast, the effects of climate change will soon be felt ‒ and with vengeance.

The warming of the Indian Ocean has also affected the marine food-web, on which many countries in the
region are heavily dependent. According to a study published in January 2016**, there has been a 20%
decline in phytoplankton, microscopic plants which are the basic building blocks for the food web. The
study points out that there has been an “alarming decrease of up to 20% in phytoplankton in this [Indian
Ocean] region over the past six decades. We find that these trends in chlorophyll are driven by enhanced
ocean stratification due to rapid warming in the Indian Ocean, which suppresses nutrient mixing from
subsurface layers. Future climate projections suggest that the Indian Ocean will continue to warm, driving
this productive region into an ecological desert.”

With an integral part of the food chain affected, there could be a chain reaction involving other marine life,
adding further stress to the marine ecosystem. To a great extent, this also threatens food security.  

How This Will Affect Food Security In The Future

Victoria Dam: dramatic changes to the landscape can already be seen, as a result of the drought. What
appears like a river in this image is normally a part of the reservoir.

The effects will be seen on both land and sea. Rainfall changes will have an immense impact on agriculture.
Central South Asia will see a reduction in rainfall, while Sri Lanka will experience a predicted increase in
rainfall. Either way, the reductions and increase will result in a severe blow to the agricultural industry,
which is heavily dependent on rainfall.

Similarly, the fishing industry will take a hit. Dr. Koll explained that a decline in marine phytoplankton was
observed in the western Indian Ocean, ranging from the Kenya-Somalia coast to the Gulf coast, to the south
of the Indian peninsula around Sri Lanka, potentially affecting the fish and other marine species in the
region. “Most fish species have a very narrow range of optimum temperatures related to their metabolism…
even a change of 1°C may affect their distribution and life cycle,” Dr. Koll explained, adding that it could
result in fish migrating to cooler waters, dying out entirely, or getting affected by invasive species.

The Next Step

We can’t stop climate change this late in the day, but we can prepare for the worst. Dr. Koll suggests, where
agriculture is concerned, cultivating crops which can withstand drought and flood conditions would help, in
addition to a judicious use of water, as well as the right methods of irrigation and water storage. Where
fishing is concerned, he pointed out that the lack of regulation of commercial fisheries in the Indian Ocean is
adding to the problem. “Regulating the total allowable catches through a proper allocation system
maximises sustainable yields, helps the fish and marine ecosystem to adapt to climate impacts, and also
reduces greenhouse gas emissions by fishing boats,” Dr. Koll said.

In Perspective

Janakapura Tank, Mullaitivu, as photographed from above on February 2. The North is usually drier than the
rest of the island, conditions which have been intensified due to the drought. Thousands of people have been
affected by the lack of rain in the last few months.

Going by reports, as it stands, Sri Lanka has seen a 7% reduction in rainfall over the past five decades,
prompted by the very warming which will potentially increase rainfall. The temperatures in Colombo were
also 1.2°C  higher in 2015, in comparison to the other years, while globally NASA has noted that 2016 was
the warmest year ever recorded. With carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere surpassing 400 ppm for the
first time in recorded history, it doesn’t look like the climate is about to catch a break anytime soon.  

*Asoka Akarsh, Gleeson Tom, Wada Yoshihide, Mishra Vimal. (2017). Relative contribution of monsoon
precipitation and pumping to changes in groundwater storage, Nature Geoscience, doi:
10.1038/NGEO2869

**Roxy, M. K., A. Modi, R. Murtugudde, V. Valsala, S. Panickal, S. Prasanna Kumar, M. Ravichandran, M.

Vichi, and M. Lévy (2016), A reduction in marine primary productivity driven by rapid warming over the
tropical Indian Ocean, Geophys. Res. Lett., 43, 826–833, doi:10.1002/2015GL066979.

Featured image credit: Roar/Christian Hutter

Paris Agreement: India's challenges Down to Earth | 12 Feb 2017 1:25 PM | New Delhi Paris Agreement:
India The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines "climate change"
as a change in climate attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the
global atmosphere. It is observed over comparable time periods in addition to natural climate variability.
The major characteristics of climate change include a rise in average global temperature, ice cap melting,
changes in precipitation, and increase in ocean temperature leading to sea level rise. The efforts needed to
address climate change include mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on the one hand and building
adaptive capacities on the other. India is committed to the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol, which
represent international consensus on the ways to deal with climate change. India has a comprehensive
framework of legal and institutional mechanisms to respond to environmental challenges. It has initiated
several climate-friendly measures, particularly in the area of renewable energy. India inked Paris deal on
October 2, 2016—a landmark pact which calls on countries to combat climate change and limit global
temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius. The Paris climate conference brought into sharp focus the
hazards of runaway climate change. India announced its new climate plan, also known as its Intended
Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC). It is the world's third-largest emitter of GHGs—the share
stands at around 4 per cent—and is highly vulnerable to impacts of climate change. India is committed to
investing in tackling climate change while addressing poverty, food security and access to healthcare and
education. India's INDC targets on its goal of installing 175 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity
by 2022, out of this, 100 GW has been allocated to solar and 60 GW to wind. It has set a new target to
increase its share of non-fossil fuel-based energy from 30 per cent today to about 40 per cent by 2030 and
committed to reduce its emissions intensity per unit GDP by 33 to 35 per cent below 2005 by 2030 and
create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 through additional tree cover. India's
action plan also prioritises efforts to build resilience to climate change impacts and gives a broad indication
of the amount of financing necessary to reach its goals. Challenges before India Under India's Constitution,
climate action is the mandate of states and Union Territories. Around 29 states have developed action plans
on climate change (SAPCCs) under the National Action Plan on Climate Change. With new national goals
on climate change as per INDC, the SAPCCs would need to refit to address the new commitments. India's
plan to reach the INDC needs to be actively gender-equitable and community-based. The need for gender
mainstreaming in climate action plans is vital for inclusive, sustainable development and climate mitigation.
Community-based adaptation approach must also be the first line of action for the integration of adaptation
in policies and planning. The way to improve mitigation and adaptation is to optimise resources. As it moves
into the implementation phase for meeting commitments, tied up funds have to be released in the budget.
India needs to strongly push for Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) in order to have
improved capacity that would help in generating good adaptation action plans and proposals. It is important
to rapidly scale-up ambition which has been lagging (SAA Farhan, What's on in India's Agenda,
Development Alternatives). According to the latest BP Energy Outlook, India's demand for green energy is
expected to grow by seven times in 2035, which means the share of renewables in the country's fuel mix will
increase from 2 per cent to 8 per cent in 2035. However, coal and other fossil fuels will continue to play a
significant role in India's energy mix in the decades to come. India's emissions intensity (CO2 emissions per
unit of GDP) declined by approximately 18 per cent between 1990 and 2005, and the country has already
committed to reducing it by another 20-25 per cent from 2005 levels, by 2020. The new INDC target
commits India to go further—33 to 35 per cent by 2030. The country's emission intensity target does not
reflect the scale of mitigation that would result from its planned investments in renewables. But renewable
energy isn't the only climate-related sector primed for growth. Like any disruptive force, climate change is
creating opportunities for private companies willing to innovate. Apart from national governments,
companies can find opportunities in eco-friendly construction and in helping cities prepare for changes in
climate. By 2050, more than 6 billion people of the world will live in urban areas, creating a pressing need
for a host of infrastructure services, like water and sanitation. Around, 400 million homes are expected to be
built by 2020—a potential boon for construction companies that can incorporate green technology into their
builds. There are great opportunities in climate-smart financial solutions (Dimitris, Capital Finance
magazine, IFC, January 6, 2016). India's INDC recognises the importance of aggressively restoring forest
cover, in a manner consistent with supporting livelihoods. Creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3
billion tonnes of CO2 would require average annual carbon sequestration to increase by at least 14 per cent
over the next 15 years relative to the period between 2008 and 2013. That is a tall order. Apart from Green
India Mission—expected to deliver 50-60 per cent—it remains to be seen how India will achieve the rest.
Moreover, INDC lacks clarity on emissions intensity in the base year (2005) and target year (2030), as well
as the scope and coverage of the intensity target and the methodologies for measuring it. This information is
crucial for monitoring progress towards India's target and for understanding how it contributes to the global
goal of limiting temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius. As a country exceptionally vulnerable to climate
change, there is a heavy focus on adaptation and resilience in India's INDC. INDC emphasise investment in
these activities would require additional support through domestic and international funds. It is estimated
that the country would need the US $206 billion during 2015-2030, with additional investments required for
disaster management. (5 Key Takeaways from India's New Climate Plan by Apurba Mitra, et al, World
Resource Institute- October 05, 2015) It is reported that the accelerated warming of the Arctic and the
Antarctic could trigger catastrophic climate changes and the world has recently received dire warnings about
the deteriorating health of our planet from two of its most fragile and critical ecosystems. Artic Resilience
report recently warned that the accelerated warming of Artic could trigger "tipping points which in turn lead
to "catastrophic and uncontrollable climate changes" (Stop before the tipping point, Hindustan Times,
January 12, 2017). For India that has an extensive coastline, the implications are enormous. The Union
Environment Minister announced in December 2016 that India would start preparing for implementing the
Paris Agreement from 2017. However, there is no major boost for climate change in Union budget 2017-18.
The ministry seems confident to spend large sums in preparing to implement the Paris Agreement that
comes into force from 2020

Read more at: http://www.millenniumpost.in/opinion/news-184367

India to ratify Paris Agreement on climate change

on Oct. 2
India accounts for 4.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced that India would ratify the Paris climate deal on
October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Addressing delegates at the BJP’s national council meeting in Kozhikode, Mr. Modi said that, “on Mahatma
Gandhi’s birth anniversary, India will ratify the decisions reached at the Conference of Parties (CoP) in
Paris.”

He explained that it was appropriate to make the announcement at a party forum because it was of a similar
line of preservation of natural resources that had been articulated by Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) president
Deen Dayal Upadhyay during the inception of the party.

“The world is today worried about climate change, global warming, natural disasters. Pandit Deen Dayal
Upadhayay had understood the need for striking the fine balance between human development and the need
to preserve natural resources. He had stressed on the need to be vigilant about the exploitation of natural
resources. Human race has only now realised the disastrous impact of our material development on the
nature,” Mr Modi said.

Talking about the need to ratify the COP21 decision, Mr. Modi said there is a looming threat due to global
warming to many coastal countries and cities.

“The world is now talking about how to stop global warming; to prevent the temperature of the earth to rise
by another two degrees. We were guided by Deen Dayal Upadhyay and we know what it could mean for
coastal cities and countries… What it could mean for Kerala. We need to play a part. An agreement has been
reached in Paris but a final step still needs to be taken – the CoP agreement has to be ratified,” he added.
“This agreement will be ratified only when 55 countries sign it. On October 2, we will ratify it. Mahatma
Gandhi’s life perhaps left the least carbon footprint on earth. We follow his ideals and India will play its part
in ratifying the Paris agreement,” he said.

The pact will come into force after it is ratified by at least 55 countries that account for 55 per cent of global
greenhouse gas emissions. India accounts for around 4.5 per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissions.

The Agreement asks both rich and poor countries to take action to curb the rise in global temperatures that is
melting glaciers, raising sea levels and shifting rainfall patterns. It requires governments to present national
plans to reduce emissions to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius or 3.6 degrees
Fahrenheit.

India ratifies Paris climate treaty: Here’s all you

need to know

India ratified the Paris Agreement on Climate Change with the UN

on Oct. 2, 2016.(Dijeshwar Sngh / HT Photot)

India, the world’s fourth-largest carbon emitter with its population of 1.3 billion people, ratified the Paris
agreement on climate change on Sunday to become the 62nd nation to join the deal.

The ambitious Paris agreement, signed in December 2015, requires the member countries to make binding
commitments to curb carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to keep global average temperatures from rising
above 1.5°C as compared to the pre-industrial years.

It will enter into force on the 30th day after the date on which at least 55 countries accounting in total for at
least an estimated 55% of the total global greenhouse gas emissions ratify it.

Here’s all you need to know about where India stands among the world’s top polluters and what the Paris
agreement means for it:

• India is responsible for 6% of the global CO2 emissions following China, which accounts for 28%, the
United States for 16% and the European Union 10%. In terms of per capita CO2 emissions, 10 other
countries are ahead of India.

• Till Sunday, 61 countries, responsible for 48% of the global emissions, had ratified the Paris agreement.
With India’s entry, the agreement has inched closer to entry into force.

• As part of the initial commitments to the agreement, India also plans to reduce its carbon emission
intensity - emission per unit of GDP - by 33-35% from 2005 levels over 15 years. It aims at producing 40%
of its installed electricity capacity by 2030 from non-fossil fuels.

• This would mean India will have to shift significantly from coal-based power generation to renewable
energy sources. It will have to produce 100 gigawatt from solar, 60 gigawatt from wind, 10 gigawatt from
biomass and 5 gigawatt from small hydropower by 2022.
• Another commitment under the treaty requires India to increase its forest cover by five million hectares
along with an improvement in the quality of green cover of an equal measure by 2030.

• By being an early entrant into the deal and playing a key role in its ratification, India will be in a better
position to put pressure on developed countries to make more ambitious commitments for curbing carbon
emissions and providing finances and technology to developing countries to facilitate a low-carbon economy
under the new rules of the Paris agreement.

• US intend to cut its emissions by 26-28% by 2025 against 2005 levels and EU has pledged to lower it by
40% by 2030 against 1990 levels as part of the initial commitments. These targets are less ambitious than
that of India’s.

India and the Paris climate deal: All you need to

know
India will ratify the Paris climate agreement on 2 October on Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary. Here are
the key implications of joining the treaty

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A major goal of the Paris climate agreement is to keep global temperature increase “well below” 2 degrees
Celsius and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Photo: Mohd Zakir/ Hindustan Times

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement on Sunday that India will ratify the Paris
agreement on 2 October, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, has made it almost certain that the
climate treaty will enter force this year. “Now the time has come to ratify the COP21 protocol. India will do
it on Gandhi Jayanti on 2 October,” Modi said while addressing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) national
executive meet in Kozhikode, Kerala, on Sunday.

Paris agreement

The Paris agreement, formally known as the Conference of Parties (CoP) protocol on combating climate
change, is the world’s first comprehensive regime on tackling the phenomenon within the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Adopted by 195 countries in Paris in December
2015, the regime will take effect after it is ratified by at least 55 countries responsible for 55% of global
emissions. So far, 61 countries, not including India, have already ratified the treaty, and the emissions
threshold currently stands at around 47%.

Major deliverables

According to reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global warming beyond 2
degrees Celsius will lead to a rise in the number of “extreme climate events”. A major goal of the Paris
agreement, therefore, is to keep global temperature increase “well below” 2 degrees Celsius and to pursue
efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The pact and its progress will be reviewed every five years. In
addition, the developed countries have pledged $100 billion a year in climate finance for developing
countries by 2020 with a commitment to further raise it in the future. While there is no penalty for countries
that miss their targets, the agreement has transparency rules to help encourage countries do achieve their
obligations.

Also read: Is Paris climate deal ‘a speeding train heading towards a cliff’?
India’s importance

The significance of New Delhi’s support to the climate pact lies in the fact that India accounts for over 4%
of global emissions and is crucial for crossing the threshold mark of 55%. The world’s top two polluters—
the US and China —that together account for 40% of global carbon emissions, have already ratified the
document. Once the 55% barrier is crossed, the climate regime will become legally binding on all
signatories after a period of 30 days.

India’s obligations

India has tried to balance its carbon emissions with its economic growth objectives by not setting an outright
pollution reduction goal. But, being a part of the global climate change regime, India will have significant
obligations to meet under the treaty. The country will have to reduce its carbon footprint by 33-35% from its
2005 levels. This has to be achieved by 2030.

A key result area for India will come in the form of the reduction of emission intensity targets, which
basically is the volume of emissions per unit of gross domestic product (GDP). The country will have to
diversify its power generation sources and shift them significantly towards renewable energy sources to
reduce volumes of emissions per unit of GDP. In numbers, by 2025, India will need a 175 gigawatt-power
production capacity from non-fossil fuel sources.

Yet another commitment under the treaty requires India to increase its forest cover by five million hectares
along with an improvement in the quality of green cover of an equal measure. It is expected that increased
forest coverage will help India absorb massive carbon emissions from the atmosphere.

Livemint

India Ratifies the Paris Climate Agreement. This Is

What It Means!

I ndia ratified the Paris agreement on climate change on Sunday, marking the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti,
which is also the International Day of Non-Violence. India, which is the world’s fourth-largest carbon
emitter accounting for 4.1% of the total global emission, is the 62nd nation to ratify the agreement.

India’s permanent representative to the U.N., Syed Akbaruddin,

delivered the ratified agreement to the international body’s office of
legal affairs.
The message of Gandhi Ji inspires all of us. India will always work with the world to overcome climate
change & create a green planet. https://t.co/IgGDJwPG4m

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 2, 2016

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Nearly 200 countries agreed on the deal in Paris last December at the 21ˢᵗ session of the Conference of the
Parties to the United Nations Convention (COP21). It agrees on a long-term goal of keeping the increase in
global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, by bringing down the greenhouse
gas emissions. It also aims to limit the increase to 1.5°C, since it would significantly reduce the risks and
impacts of climate change.

According to the terms, however, the agreement will not be binding until at least 55 countries accounting for
at least an estimated 55% of the total global greenhouse gas emissions ratify it. After India’s ratification, the
total emission share of the countries has reached the 51.89% mark. Since European Union, accounting for
12.1% of the total global emission, has also decided to submit its instrument of ratification on Tuesday, the
climate deal is all set to enter into force early November. This will be before the commencement of the
COP22, which will take place from November 7-18, 2016.

India’s commitment to the agreement:

Source: Facebook

Owing to the agreement, India plans to reduce its carbon emission intensity, i.e. the emission per unit of
GDP, by 33-35% from what it was in 2005, by 2030. The aim is to produce 40% of the total electricity from
sources other than fossil fuels.

This would mark a significant shift from the coal-based power generation to alternative renewable energy
sources. Solar photovoltaic panels, along with large wind mills will contribute to the production of the
electricity as per the plan. As much as 100 GW of electricity is to be generated from solar energy, of which
40 GW would be through individual rooftop systems. India also envisages employing other renewable
energy sources like biomass energy and hydropower.

India has to increase its forest cover by five million hectares along
with an improvement in the quality of green cover of an equal
measure to create an additional carbon sink of about 2.5 billion – 3
billion tonnes by 2030.
A carbon sink is a system that is capable of absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.
Currently, over 24 per cent of India’s geographical area is under forest and tree cover, which needs to be
increased to 33 per cent. While it’s a herculean task and a lot will need to be done to achieve the target, we
can say that a beginning has been made. Recently, the government passed the landmark CAMPA
(Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) bill, which looks to make up for
every inch of forest destroyed. Also, the government plans to plant trees along the entire stretch of highways
and railways.

India also faces the challenge of rapid development and urbanization. While the process of urbanization is
vital to the overall development, India has promised to develop climate resilient urban centres. Along with
missions like the development of smart cities and AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban
Transformation), there are waste management programmes to be put in place as well. With projects like
metro rails and initiatives like the use of CNG-powered as well as electric public transport vehicles in many
cities, we can certainly say we’re taking steps towards breathing in cleaner air. The climate change
agreement will be instrumental in India’s organised efforts to conserve our environment.

Know more about the Paris Agreement here.

Featured image source: By Vinaykumar8687 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

– Aditi Patwardhan
What is the Paris Agreement on climate change?

And why is it so vitally important?

Image: REUTERS/Torsten Blackwood/Pool

What is COP21 – and why does it matter?

One of the biggest headlines to come out of last week’s G20 summit in China was the announcement that
both China and the US had ratified the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

The announcement was significant, because the US and China are the world’s two biggest polluters. China is
responsible for 20.09% of global emissions, while the US is responsible for 17.89%.

What is the Paris agreement?

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing the world today. It is responsible for the increase in
extreme weather events, as well as an unbroken series of hottest years on record. Indeed, the World
Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2016 named it as one of biggest risks we face.

In recognition of this, 179 countries and the EU spent two weeks in Paris last December hammering out the
final wording of an agreement to keep global temperature increase well below 2C and if possible, below
1.5C. The reduction in temperature can only be achieved through a significant reduction in the emission of
greenhouse gases. Known as COP21, (The 21st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change), it was one of the largest gatherings of world leaders ever seen.

Everyone who attended COP21 made emission-cutting pledges. These are known as “intended nationally
determined contributions”, or INDCs for short. The US, for example, pledged to cut U.S. climate pollution
by 26-28% from 2005 levels. China’s target is to reach peak CO2 emissions by 2030 at the latest, lower the
carbon intensity of GDP by 60% to 65% below 2005 levels by 2030, and to increase the share of non-fossil
energy carriers of the total primary energy supply to around 20%.

The EU plans to cut emissions by 40% by 2030 on 1990 levels.

What will make the agreement come into force?

For the agreement to come into effect, at least 55 countries have to join it, and those countries have to
represent 55% of global emissions. Once this is achieved, everyone will be obliged to meet their emissions-
cutting pledges.

There are three steps that a country or party has to take before officially joining the agreement.

1. Adopt the agreement

This is what the meeting in December 2015 was all about. All the parties who attended the meeting agreed
to - “adopted” - the text of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

2. Sign the agreement

On April 22, 2016, the Paris Agreement was opened for signature at the United Nations Headquarters in
New York. This step indicates a commitment by that country to refrain from acts that would defeat the
object and purpose of the Agreement. The Agreement will remain open for signature until April 2017.
3. Join the agreement

Each party has to ratify the agreement, i.e. go back to their domestic governments in order to gain domestic
approval or, in some cases, have it passed by domestic law. China, for instance, voted to adopt "the proposal
to review and ratify the Paris Agreement," at the closing meeting of the National People's Congress Standing
Committee. The US used a presidential executive agreement. Once the Agreement is ratified the parties
submit an “instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval” to the UN to prove that they are ready to join.

Why is the news about the US and China so significant?

Before the announcement by the US and China, only 24 countries – responsible for about 1% of global
emissions – had ratified the agreement, while 180 had signed it.

The global emissions target of 55% has been significantly boosted by China and the US, who between them
represent 37.98% of global emissions. This brings the total parties who have joined the Agreement to 26,
and the percentage of global emissions to 39.06%.

Their announcement puts pressure on other participants – such as the EU – to speed up their ratifying
process. Some of the world’s other large polluters, such as Japan, Brazil and Canada have all publicly said
that they intend to ratify the agreement by the end of the year.

What happens if a party changes its mind?

Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for the US Presidential election, has said he will abandon the Paris
agreement if he is elected. However, once a party has joined the agreement, they cannot begin the process of
withdrawal for three years.

The Paris Agreement signifies years of work in trying to combat climate change. In 1992, countries joined
an international treaty, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In 2005, the Kyoto
Protocol became a legally binding treaty. It committed its parties to internationally binding emission
reduction targets. It ends in 2020, and COP21 is designed to take its place.