Pursuing projects like the Rs 3 lakh crore mega refinery on the west coast raises questions about India's commitment to its stated goals to save the planet, an American academic said on Thursday.
If countries like Saudi Arabia, which have themselves come out with their own targets to reduce carbon emissions, help in such projects, governments should take up the matter with their counterparts in other countries as well, Rachel Kyte, a dean at the Fletcher School and also an advisor to the United Nations on climate change, told PTI.
The remarks came amid a revival in discussions about the west coast refinery project, touted as the world's largest such complex, which is to be built by state-run refiners in association with Saudi Arabian oil major Aramco. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had last year announced that the country wishes to be net-zero on carbon emissions by 2070, and get half of the energy requirements from renewable sources by 2030.
"…the question is to the ministry of energy (in India), the question is to the prime minister's office. How does this fit into your net-zero target," Kyte asked. She termed the 2030 target by India as "transformational" and added that we should "assume that that's still the target", and nobody has abandoned it.
Answering a specific query on the west coast refinery project, she said pursuing such projects can be contrary to the stated goals, which leads to various questions. "Are these actions in contrary? that's a question for Indian policymakers, that's a question for Indian companies, that's a question for Aramco, and that's a question for Saudi Arabia, which also has a net-zero target. The question is how does this fit in with your science-based net-zero target? I think, in some cases, it doesn't fit in," Kyte said.
She warned that the consequences of missing the stated targets on climate change will be far worse than the current dislocations being seen as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its impact on energy prices. Kyte said the current situation actually allows for a faster shift to renewable and other climate-friendly sources of energy, given the northward shift in gas and oil prices due to the war.
There can be a shift to coal to heat up during the winters, driven by an agenda of reducing reliance on Russian gas in some countries, but the same should be a short-term blip, which should spill over to being a medium or long term trend. Kyte also seemed to be disappointed with New Delhi's response to the Russian actions in Ukraine and stressed for India to be more outspoken.
"I think India has to speak out in terms of the values that India holds dear. India is 75. At 75, you are wise, and wisdom should be there. There is no moral equivalency in this war between what Russia has done to Ukraine and what Ukraine is trying to do for itself," she said.
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