The following is an excerpt from Kaushik Deb and Meera Gopal's op-ed in the Economic Times Energyworld. Kaushik is the Executive Director of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, India, and Meera is a Senior Program Officer of Climate at the Asia Society Policy Institute. 

With the conclusion of the annual UN climate conference (COP29) at Baku, Azerbaijan, attention in the climate policy world will now turn towards how countries scale their climate ambition through the next iteration of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) due in February 2025 though this could likely spill over until COP30 in Brazil for most countries. India would also be exploring what climate actions should it commit to for the next decade or so. 

Over the years, since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, India has set and actively pursued increasingly ambitious climate targets, establishing itself as a leader of the global south committed to environmental protection and sustainability. We unpack and assess India’s progress on its various climate commitments since 2015. According to India’s National Statement at COP29, the country has already met some of its climate commitments well ahead of time and called for greater support and financial contribution from the developed countries in meeting the climate challenge.

A few important numbers first: 

India became the world’s most populous country in 2023. It is also currently the world’s fifth largest economy and according to projections by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), it will be the third largest in the world by 2029 with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of over $6.3 trillion by 2030. On the flipside, India is also the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs), accounting for nearly 8 percent the total global emissions. 

Clearly, the country’s growth potential is sizable which will inevitably see an increase to both its energy demand and carbon footprint. The International Energy Agency forecasts in its latest World Energy Outlook that India’s energy consumption will increase by 25 percent by 2030, the fastest increase among major economies in the world. Carbon emissions from energy use are expected

Read the full op-ed in the Economic Times Energyworld.