TRANSITIONING TOWARDS CLEAN ENERGY

Dramatic steps have been taken to reduce emissions and transition to cleaner sources of energy. Apart from efforts for steep reduction in climate change consistent with the Paris Agreement, it is equally import to reduce air pollution and provide universal electricity access to people. David Turk, IEA, in conversation with TCA Avni for Energy Future talks about challenges and progress to meeting clean energy transition goals.

- David Turk

Could you tell us a little about IEA’s ‘India 2020: Energy Policy Review’?

We felt that it was a particular privilege to be asked by the Indian government to do this kind of in-depth policy review. We were very impressed by the cooperation of the Indian government across a variety of ministries, NITI Aayog and other key stakeholders, including TERI. We felt very good about the bilateral relationship between IEA and India, and it was a terrific opportunity to do this in-depth review. It provided an opportunity to really explore some of the terrific progress that has been made in India over the last several years and also use our analysis to highlight some of the continuing challenges that need to be focused.

In the review, the IEA mentions that despite making progress on reducing emissions intensity, transitioning towards low carbon electricity has remained challenging. Could you talk a little about what do you see as the way forward?

To put this in a bit of a broader context, there are varying levels of progress made by different governments around the world, and there are continuing opportunities for even more progress for every country, whether you talk about electricity or clean energy transitions more generally.