Context

• India recently submitted its latest Biennial Update Report to the UNFCCC.
  • The report highlighted that the emissions intensity of its gross domestic product (GDP), which reflects the energy efficiency of its economic activities, reduced by 36% between 2005 and 2020.
  • The report also detailed sources of emissions, and the status of targets spelt out on climate action.

What are the BUR-4’s highlights and submissions on emissions inventory?

• India’s BUR-4 updates the third national communication.
• It was submitted to the UNFCCC on December 30.

  

• The report contains the national GHG inventory for the year 2020, and has submitted that India is on track to meet its climate commitments.
• As part of the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) submitted under Paris agreement in 2015, and later updated in 2022, India has committed to reduce its GDP emission intensity by 45% compared to 2005 levels by 2030.
• BUR-4 has submitted that between 2005 and 2020, India’s emissions intensity of GDP reduced by 36%.
• GDP emission intensity refers to the reduction in the GHG emissions per unit of economic output.
• Switching from fossil fuel to renewables and fossil fuel to electricity, are some of the examples of reducing emissions intensity while expanding economic activity.
• The biggest highlight of BUR-4 is that in 2020, India’s total GHG emissions were 2,959 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent.
• After counting the absorption by forestry sector and land resources, the country’s net emissions were 2,437 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
• The total national emissions (including land use, land-use change, and forestry) fell 7.93% compared to 2019, although it has increased by 98.34% since 1994, as per BUR-4.
• The main contributors to the total GHG emission are CO2 emissions generated from burning fossil fuels, methane emissions from livestock, and increasing aluminium and cement production, the report said.
• A breakdown of the emissions based on the GHGs revealed that CO2 accounted for 80.53% of emissions, followed by methane (13.32%), nitrous oxide (5.13%) and others 1.02%.
• Sectoral contributions to emissions were highest from the energy sector at 75.66%.
• Agriculture contributed 13.72% emissions while Industrial Process and Product Use and Waste sector contributed 8.06% and 2.56%, respectively.
• In the energy sector, electricity production alone accounted for 39% of emissions.

What does BUR-4 say about the status of India’s climate commitments?

• As part of its global commitments, India updated its NDCs in August 2022.
• One of the key targets is to achieve 50% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel resources by 2030.
• Reducing energy intensity of GDP was the other key target.
• India also committed to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.
• “During 2005 to 2021, an additional carbon sink of 2.29 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent has been created,” as per BUR-4.
• Prior to the NDC update, in 2021, India also pledged to reach net zero or carbon neutral, by 2070.
• Updating its progress on these fronts, India has said that, the share of non-fossil fuel-based power generation capacity in the country is 46.52%, as per the Central Electricity Authority.
• The report also talked about emissions reduced using the ‘Perform, Achieve and Trade’ scheme, which was launched in 2011 to reduce energy consumption and enhance energy efficiency across the industrial sector.
• Through five cycles between 2012 and 2022, the scheme has led to cumulative energy savings of 3.35 Mtoe (million tons of oil equivalent) in the Cement industry, 6.14 Mtoe in the Iron and Steel industry, 2.13 Mtoe in the Aluminium industry, 0.33 Mtoe in the Textile industry, 0.63 Mtoe in the Paper and Pulp industry.
• Across the thermal power sector, the PAT scheme has led to energy savings of 7.72 Mtoe and prevented emissions of 28.74 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent till 2021-2022.
• With India significantly affected by climate change, it needs advanced technology for low-carbon growth and to adapt to impacts of climate change.
• India has noted it is largely relying on domestic resources and that barriers such as slow technology transfer and intellectual property rights are impeding adopting of technologies.
• In the energy sector, it pointed to ultra-efficient photovoltaic cells, advanced photovoltaic cells, floating wind turbines, and geothermal technology as some examples.
• In the industrial sector, it highlighted the carbon capture, utilisation and storage sector for hard to abate sectors such as cement, iron and steel.
• In the water sector, it said that solar and wind powered desalination technology can help arid areas.

Back to Basics

What is the Biennial Update Report (BUR)?

• Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), developing countries are obliged to submit a detailed report on their efforts towards climate action.
• This report, submitted as part of obligations under the Paris climate agreement, is called the Biennial Update Report or BUR.
• Important submissions in BURs comprise an overview of the country’s national circumstances vis-à-vis climate, socio-economic factors, and forestry, as well as a detailed inventory of the national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, their sources, and natural sinks.
• It also contains important updates on national action plans to mitigate emissions, methods to measure those actions along with information on the financial, technological and capacity-building support the country has received to combat climate change.

Source: IE

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