Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Recognizing its position as one of the most climate-vulnerable countries, India has made significant progress on environmental protection and climate action, according to the Economic Survey 2023-24, tabled in Parliament on July 22. The document was tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, a day ahead of the Union Budget presentation.
The Survey showed that the country’s energy needs are expected to grow 2 to 2.5 times by 2047.
India has successfully reduced the emission intensity vis-a-vis its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 33 per cent between 2005 and 2019, thus achieving the initial Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) target for 2030, 11 years ahead of scheduled time”. The country has “also committed to increasing the share of non-fossil fuel-based electricity to 40 per cent and enhancing forest cover to absorb 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2030”.
It showed that the country’s GDP grew with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of about seven per cent between 2005 and 2019. On the other hand, the emissions grew at a CAGR of about four per cent, that is, “the rate of emissions growth is lower than the rate of growth of our GDP”. “This shows that India has successfully decoupled its economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions, reducing the emission intensity of its GDP,” the Survey said.
