NEW DELHI, Oct 24 : India’s greenhouse gas emissions surged by 6.1 per cent in 2023, contributing to 8 per cent of the global total but the country’s historical contribution to global CO2 emissions stands at only 3 per cent, a new UN report has revealed.
The Emissions Gap Report 2024 – No more hot air … Please! – by the UN Environment Programme, painted a stark picture of the climate crisis, calling for urgent global action to close the gap between climate pledges and actual results.
While India’s per capita emission remains low at 2.9 tons of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e), far below the global average of 6.6 tCO2e, its overall contribution reflects the growing energy demands of the world’s most populous country.
Despite India’s significant emissions growth, the report highlighted stark global inequalities, with G20 nations (excluding the African Union) collectively accounting for 77 per cent of global GHG emissions.
Of these members, seven countries — China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Turkey — have not yet peaked their emissions.
For these countries, efforts to reduce emissions rapidly after peaking will be essential to achieving their long-term goals, the report said.
According to the data shared in the report, India’s greenhouse gas emissions surged by 6.1 per cent in 2023, contributing to 8 per cent of the global total.
For countries that have already peaked, such as the United States, the European Union, and Japan, the challenge will be accelerating the rate of decarbonization to meet their net-zero pledges by mid-century.
In contrast, least developed countries, which include some of the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions, contributed just 3 per cent.
The report also points out that while India’s emissions are rising, its historical contribution to global CO2 emissions stands at only 3 per cent, compared to 20 per cent for the United States. Despite mounting warnings and increasingly severe weather events like wildfire, heatwave, and storms, global emissions reached a record high in 2023.
Greenhouse gas emissions rose by 1.3 per cent from the previous year, pushing the world further away from its climate targets, the report said.
The increase highlights a continued reliance on fossil fuels and insufficient global progress toward the goals of the Paris Agreement.
The report revealed a clear and growing disconnect between “climate rhetoric” and reality.
As nations prepare to submit their next Nationally Determined Contributions ahead of COP30 in Brazil, the window to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is closing in.
According to the report, achieving this target will require an unprecedented reduction in emissions by 42 per cent by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. Even the less ambitious goal of limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius is slipping out of reach, with emissions needing to fall by 28 per cent by 2030 to stay on track, the UN report observed.
It emphasised that without “immediate, dramatic” action, the 1.5 degrees Celsius target will become unattainable within a few years, and the 2 degrees Celsius target will be in critical condition.
The report showed that the global trajectory is instead pushing toward a worst-case scenario of 2.6 degrees Celsius warming by the end of the century. Such a temperature rise will have disastrous consequences, including extreme weather events, ecosystem collapse, and widespread social and economic disruptions.
One of the key findings of the report is the unprecedented level of global emissions in 2023, which reached 57.1 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e).
This marked a 1.3 per cent increase from 2022, surpassing the average annual growth rate of 0.8 per cent seen in the decade before the COVID-19 pandemic. While emissions from sectors like power generation, transport, and agriculture continued to rise, the power sector remained the largest contributor, emitting 15.1 GtCO2e.
Transportation followed closely, emitting 8.4 GtCO2e, while agriculture and industry each contributed 6.5 GtCO2e. Emissions from international aviation saw the largest surge, increasing by 19.5 per cent as air travel rebounded post-pandemic.
Of the parties to the Paris Agreement, 90 per cent have updated or replaced their initial NDCs since the agreement was signed. Only one country has strengthened its target since COP28 in 2023.
Current policies project that global emissions in 2030 will be 57 GtCO2e – about 2 GtCO2e higher than the level implied by unconditional NDCs.
Despite the challenges, the report pointed to several opportunities for accelerating climate action.
By 2030, solar and wind energy could contribute 27 per cent of the total emissions reduction potential, rising to 38 per cent by 2035, it said.
The report also highlighted the role of forests, which could provide 20 per cent of the emissions reduction potential in both 2030 and 2035 through reforestation and other carbon sequestration measures.
The report called for a six-fold increase in mitigation investments, as well as reform in the global financial system to support developing countries in their climate efforts.
The Emissions Gap Report 2024 warned that delaying climate action will require even steeper cuts in emissions after 2030, with annual reductions needing to rise from 7.5 per cent to 15 per cent to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. (PTI)
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