A growing consensus in India that climate risks cannot be avoided

Dr.Seema Javed

In these last days of August while we endure the twin crises of COVID-19 and climate change, there is undoubtedly a growing consensus in India that climate risks cannot be avoided.

On 25 August 2020, the Reserve Bank of India, in its annual report for 2019-20 claims that impacts of climate change will be the severest in India and will need an appropriate framework to manage financial risks arising out of climate change.

Today, on 28th August 2020, more than 20 big shots CEOs of companies like Tata Steel, Tata Power, Dalmia Cement, Mahindras, Flipkart even traditional companies like Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., have signed on a call to action to demand green growth and for policies which create a resilient India.

At the same time United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres delivered the 19^th Darbari Seth Memorial Lecture today on 28 August on “The Rise of Renewables: Shining a Light on a Sustainable Future”.

In His lecture Secretary General Guterres’ emphasizes the need for India to phasedown coal as the commodity becomes 50% uncompetitive by 2022 and 85% by 2025. He pointed out towards government’s investment in coal and high level of fossil fuel subsidies, warning it’s “bad economics” and killing citizens from bad air.

There are signs of progress. India’s Minister of Renewable energy recently announced that by 2030, 60% of the country’s installed capacity will be from renewables and this is a conservative estimate. Analysts say the country can integrate a large share of renewables at no extra cost by 2030.

In the last few months, there has been a clear indication that the share of non fossil energy in large parts of the country will be as high as 45-50% of total generation.

Guterres long-awaited intervention comes on the same day 20+ leading Indian CEOs releasea “call to action” to the government, asking it accelerates investment off coal, support electric mobility and pioneer “green industrialisation”.

Coinciding with these events, A set of 8 priority areas to repurpose business activity including – accelerating power sector transition and electric mobility adoption, pioneering green industrialization, achieving land degradation neutrality, and investing clean tech, clean finance, and in resilient social and physical infrastructure are highlighted as the imperatives of building back better.

The signatories include large and important players in the Indian corporate sector like It is clear that there is an economic case for transition to low emission pathways as an urgent need for India’s future growth.

India was hit by 8 cyclones in 2019, the highest since 1976. The number of dry days as well as days with extremely high levels of rainfall have increased leading to more intense droughts, downward shifts in average rainfall and sharp rise in annual average temperature. 

As India grapples with a spate of extreme weather events which have caused economic and human loss, RBI stressed on the Environmental Social and Governance policy (ESG) guidelines to be adopted by businesses to ascertain long-term sustainability in the face of environmental vulnerabilities like climate change.

RBI warns that businesses failing to realise physical and transition risks due to climate change, the fallout for them could include deterioration in asset quality of borrowers, increased claims due to natural calamities, impacts on business models and long-term liquidity effects.

Investments in renewable energy, clean transport and energy efficiency during the recovery from the pandemic could extend electricity access to 270 million people worldwide.

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UN has been Urging all countries, especially the G20 nations, to commit to carbon neutrality before 2050 and to submit — well before COP26 — more ambitious nationally determined contributions and long-term strategies that are aligned with the 1.5 degree goal.

Partnership of key public and private sector stakeholders is committed to achieving net zero emissions by mid-century in sectors that collectively account for 30 per cent of global emissions.

(Author is an Independent Journalist, Environmentalist & Strategic communicator)