On Wednesday, India’s cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has finally green signalled the country’s long-awaiting Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) targets for the period 2031-2035 that includes a range of commitments on key climate change agendas.
India’s commitments include reduction of emission intensity by 47 per cent of its GDP by 2035 from 2005 level, to achieve 60 per cent non-fossil fuel-based electric power installed capacity by 2035, and, to create carbon sink of 3.5 to 4.0 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide and other warming gases through generation of forest and tree cover by 2035 from 2005 level.
The cabinet decision further pointed out that India’s commitments are aligned with vision of Viksit Bharat at 2047, a much publicised tenet of the union government, and Net-Zero by 2070; that was announced by Indian Prime Minister at Glasgow climate summit in 2021.
Will inform UNFCCC soon
Government sources told The Plurals that newly finalised NDC 3.0 targets would soon be communicated to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the UN body that governs the global climate change issues. UNFCCC originally asked the countries to submit the NDC 3.0 by early 2025, and subsequently extended the deadline till COP 30 held at Belem, Brazil in November. India remained one of the few countries that had failed to submit the NDC within the scheduled window; and had faced flak from both other countries and climate activists during Belem COP. “NDCs 3.0 need to be progressive and more ambitious than current NDCs and may be the last opportunity to put the world on track with a global emission trajectory in line with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C goal,” reminded UNFCCC earlier.
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are non-binding national climate plans under the Paris Agreement, where countries specify actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions ; and It gets updated every five years.
Achieved before time
“The decision is a testimony of prime minister Modi’s farm commitment to environmental and climate issues” claimed union minister Aswini Vaishnaw adding that India has achieved many of its on-going NDC’s targets ahead of schedule.
“India’s original climate commitments i.e NDC submitted in 2015, (had) targets by 2030 of 33–35 per cent reduction in the emissions intensity of GDP and 40 per cent share of non-fossil resources based electric power installed capacity, both of which were met, 11 years and 9 years ahead of the committed timelines,” claimed a government communiqué. It further said that “ …Our emissions intensity has since reduced by 36 per cent during 2005 to 2020 … on enhancing share of non-fossil fuel energy resources in installed electric power capacity, the country has achieved 52.57 per cent non-fossil capacity (by February 2026), successfully meeting the target five years ahead of the timeline”.
“Our afforestation efforts have been duly acknowledged by independent agencies such as Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) which has ranked India as third in terms of net gain in forest area and ninth in terms of area under forest,” claimed a government source.
India should walk-talk its commitments
Climate experts have welcomed the decision with a sense of caution.
“While the global community has waited with bated breath for this announcement, the result is a clear signal of integrity and commitment — especially at a time when several developed nations are backtracking on their climate pledges,” said Harjeet Singh, a frontline global climate activist and Founding Director of Satat Sampada Climate Foundation.
“In moving forward, it is imperative that we integrate climate goals with social and economic development to foster comprehensive sustainability. This approach must address critical factors such as biodiversity, air quality, and the impacts on communities,” observed Anjal Prakash, a professor at Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad and a climate scientist. Aarti Khosla, director, Climate Trends pointed out that, “India’s updated NDC targets reflect a realistic yet forward-looking climate strategy, especially coming at a time when the global order is fractured and the future of energy policy is very uncertain”.
“We have to keep in mind that India, while doing well in mitigation like solar as it has market linkage, has a lot to catch up in adaptation. One may recall that while the last economic review spent a chapter on adaptation finance, the actual budget hardly provided anything in adaptation finance in the last budget,” reminded an activist.
“While Indian government talks about the virtues of adaptation finance on a global platform, it seems to forget the deeds in the country; India should walk-talk its commitments at the domestic level” added the climate expert.