Parties to the historic Paris Accord on climate change signed in 2015 meet in Bonn next week, and their discussions will inevitably veer toward the Donald Trump-led US administration’s decision to exit the Accord. US is the second-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, in per capita terms as well as in absolute volumes. The upcoming summit takes place amid growing concerns that the US move may encourage other countries to abdicate their responsibility to rein in greenhouse gas emissions.
With the US withdrawal, all eyes will turn toward the moves China and India make. Although both emerging economies have relatively lower per capita emissions compared to developed economies, they still rank among the top three emitters in absolute volumes.
Shortly after taking charge as prime minister, Narendra Modi signalled a pivot to renewables as a major way in which India will seek to fight climate change. He set an ambitious target of setting up 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity by 2022, which stood at just 4.3GW in 2015, on the eve of the Paris Accord.
So far, progress has been impressive but at 13GW of installed solar capacity in mid-2017, India has only reached a tenth of the target. And it is uncertain whether solar capacity will continue to grow at the same pace in the years ahead.
Nonetheless, India’s installed capacity to produce electricity from renewable energy sources—mainly wind and solar—currently stands at around 58GW, which is among the top five in the world. This excludes hydro power capacity.
Over the past two years, India has stepped up the overall share of renewables in its energy mix. India committed to raise the share of renewables in installed capacity to 40% by 2030 compared to 18% currently. Under its “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions” (INDC) commitments, India will seek to reduce its emissions-to-GDP ratio by 33-35% by 2030 from 2005 levels.
However, India has continued to add coal capacity over the last two years. Contrast this with the US, where installed capacity in coal fell almost 23GW or 8% between December 2015 and August 2017.
It is also worth noting that coal-based thermal power plants in India have declined in importance over the past few years partly because of commercial considerations. The pile of bad debt and overcapacity in the sector has made investments in new thermal power plants relatively unattractive. As these problems recede, coal might start looking attractive once again, at least from a commercial point of view. And given that coal remains the cheapest source of power, it will continue to be a tempting option for an emerging economy with a large power deficit. According to the International Energy Agency, 18% of India’s population did not have access to electricity in 2016.
A lot will depend on whether the growth in the renewable sector is sustained. At the moment, things do not look very bright for solar. The reverse auction system, where solar power development projects are awarded to the lowest bidders, has raised concerns over the sustainability of solar power companies. Too few solar projects and too many solar companies have pushed companies to bid aggressively for low tariff rates, raising concerns about their balance sheets. SunEdison, a US solar giant with interests in India, filed for bankruptcy last year.
Solar tariff rates have fallen significantly in India, prompting states to try and renege on offtake commitments that had been negotiated at higher rates earlier. Capacity utilization in solar is also low (around 20%) as opposed to coal (about 60%) owing to the challenge of storage of energy and grid integration.
The uncertainties in the renewable space could prompt a rethink on India’s energy mix, and make India renegotiate the commitments made two years ago. It remains to be seen whether India signals that shift at Bonn, or chooses to stay the course for now.
Receive Daily Updates
Recent Posts
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]2021 WEF Global Gender Gap report, which confirmed its 2016 finding of a decline in worldwide progress towards gender parity.
Over 2.8 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men. As many as 104 countries still have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs, 59 countries have no laws on sexual harassment in the workplace, and it is astonishing that a handful of countries still allow husbands to legally stop their wives from working.
Globally, women’s participation in the labour force is estimated at 63% (as against 94% of men who participate), but India’s is at a dismal 25% or so currently. Most women are in informal and vulnerable employment—domestic help, agriculture, etc—and are always paid less than men.
Recent reports from Assam suggest that women workers in plantations are paid much less than men and never promoted to supervisory roles. The gender wage gap is about 24% globally, and women have lost far more jobs than men during lockdowns.
The problem of gender disparity is compounded by hurdles put up by governments, society and businesses: unequal access to social security schemes, banking services, education, digital services and so on, even as a glass ceiling has kept leadership roles out of women’s reach.
Yes, many governments and businesses had been working on parity before the pandemic struck. But the global gender gap, defined by differences reflected in the social, political, intellectual, cultural and economic attainments or attitudes of men and women, will not narrow in the near future without all major stakeholders working together on a clear agenda—that of economic growth by inclusion.
The WEF report estimates 135 years to close the gap at our current rate of progress based on four pillars: educational attainment, health, economic participation and political empowerment.
India has slipped from rank 112 to 140 in a single year, confirming how hard women were hit by the pandemic. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two Asian countries that fared worse.
Here are a few things we must do:
One, frame policies for equal-opportunity employment. Use technology and artificial intelligence to eliminate biases of gender, caste, etc, and select candidates at all levels on merit. Numerous surveys indicate that women in general have a better chance of landing jobs if their gender is not known to recruiters.
Two, foster a culture of gender sensitivity. Take a review of current policies and move from gender-neutral to gender-sensitive. Encourage and insist on diversity and inclusion at all levels, and promote more women internally to leadership roles. Demolish silos to let women grab potential opportunities in hitherto male-dominant roles. Work-from-home has taught us how efficiently women can manage flex-timings and productivity.
Three, deploy corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the education and skilling of women and girls at the bottom of the pyramid. CSR allocations to toilet building, the PM-Cares fund and firms’ own trusts could be re-channelled for this.
Four, get more women into research and development (R&D) roles. A study of over 4,000 companies found that more women in R&D jobs resulted in radical innovation. It appears women score far higher than men in championing change. If you seek growth from affordable products and services for low-income groups, women often have the best ideas.
Five, break barriers to allow progress. Cultural and structural issues must be fixed. Unconscious biases and discrimination are rampant even in highly-esteemed organizations. Establish fair and transparent human resource policies.
Six, get involved in local communities to engage them. As Michael Porter said, it is not possible for businesses to sustain long-term shareholder value without ensuring the welfare of the communities they exist in. It is in the best interest of enterprises to engage with local communities to understand and work towards lowering cultural and other barriers in society. It will also help connect with potential customers, employees and special interest groups driving the gender-equity agenda and achieve better diversity.