India’s road to net zero carbon emissions will be long and challenging — while it’s not impossible, it will need a lot of strategic planning in the decades ahead, economists told CNBC. The world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases surprised the world on Monday by setting a target for net zero carbon emissions — after
years of rejecting calls for it. Speaking at the COP26 summit, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said India would
aim for net zero carbon emissions by 2070. While it’s the first time India has made such a pledge, the timeline is still two decades beyond the 2050 target set by the climate summit’s organizers.
Net zero emissions refer to achieving an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions removed from the atmosphere, through natural means or by using the still nascent carbon capture technology.
“I was surprised because there has been quite a heated debate on net-zero in India,” Ulka Kelkar, director of the climate program at World Resources Institute, India, told CNBC.
