HOT PURSUIT

To mitigate climate change, G20 plans to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030

- SANJIB KR BARUAH

BUYING A CAR these days is not just about the brand or the mileage. It is increasingly about which variant to buy—petrol, diesel, CNG or the latest craze, the electric and the hybrid models. The world has realised that opting for an electric vehicle is yet another step forward in the fight against climate change, which was set out eight years ago at the Paris agreement.

Climate change and global warming are clearly at a tipping point. Unrelenting floods in Asia, sweltering heat in Europe, terrible drought in the Horn of Africa and wildfires in North America are all harbingers of the deadly reality. The 2015 Paris plan is to keep the rise in global temperature below at least 2 degrees centigrade, the ideal level being 1.5 degrees. The preferred method to achieve this goal is a structural shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. That costs money.

A recent report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) says the transition requires at least $4.4 trillion annually. It is here that the G20 countries—which together account for more than 85 per cent of the global GDP—have to play a pivotal role. Mapping out an ambitious goal “to triple renewable energy capacity globally… by 2030”, a hallmark of the G20 Delhi declaration, the emphasis is on reforming the global financial institutions and the debt structuring system. The aim is to make funds affordable and available in a fair manner so that the developing nations can meet their climate obligations. To put up a robust fight against climate change is, therefore, also about the availability of low-cost financing to combat the rising heat and deteriorating climatic conditions, particularly against the backdrop of rising interest rates.