Position of Indian states in terms of Climate Change adaptation and mitigation

Contact Counsellor

Last Updated09/03/2022

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released the second part of its Sixth Assessment Report recently
The implications of this report for India are dire
This serves as a further reminder of the importance of collective action not just at the national level but also by states to counter the worst outcomes of climate change.
There are large differences among Indian states in their climate change mitigation (shifting to cleaner fuels) and adaptation (disaster preparedness)

While the risk for coastal cities such as Chennai and Mumbai are well-known
This report also highlights the risks confronting cities like Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Patna
It quantifies the potential economic losses from sea-level rise and intense heat waves on these cities

India's per capita CO2 emissions are the lowest among major global economies
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel combustion are the leading cause of human-induced climate change.
In 2015, the Paris Climate Accord had called for a global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions, including CO2.
Concurrently, a framework of 17 interlinked Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to be realised by 2030, was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly to accomplish climate-resilient development.
India is well on track to achieve SDG goal 13, which considers reduction in per-capita greenhouse gas emissions.
Per-capita CO2 emissions peaked in India in 2019, and are on a downward trend, even as global emissions are still rising.
But there is scope to do more.
India is not faring well in other dimensions of SDGs, which range from poverty reduction and education to sustainable cities and conserving biodiversity.

It includes metrics such as installed renewable energy capacity, CO2 reduction due to LED bulbs, disaster preparedness, human lives lost due to extreme weather events, and disability-adjusted life years (DALY) due to pollution.
India lags in terms of its aggregate SDG score across all dimensions
Beyond countries, local and regional governments have a large role to play in achieving the SDGs.
The United Nations has advocated localising the SDGs, as well as collecting data at a sub-national scale to capture regional disparities in climate action.
For India, the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI) in collaboration with the UN Resident Coordinator Office (UNRCO) in India has compiled a unified data repository on SDG indicators across states.

A consolidated score on climate actions based on the above mentioned parameters is computed for individual states
Odisha, Kerala and Gujarat rank highest among the large states, mostly on account of their higher disaster preparedness scores
While Bihar and Jharkhand are at the bottom.

Renewable energy is key to reducing the long-term reliance on fossil fuel burning.
The analysis is based on renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind, biomass and small hydropower.
Large hydroelectric power projects are included in the MoSPI index, but have been excluded from this analysis because they have a massive adverse impact on lives and livelihoods.

Southern and Western states lead large states on renewable energy transition
As of January 2022, among the 10 states with the largest installed power capacity, the share of renewables varied from 12% to 52%.
Six states had a renewable component above 25%, data from the Central Electricity Authority showed.
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan are frontrunners, with over 40% of their installed capacity accruing from renewable sources.
While Karnataka and Rajasthan have significant solar power generation, Tamil Nadu leads in wind energy.
However, there remains vast untapped potential for renewable energy in several other states, including Jammu and Kashmir.

There are large disparities among states in fossil fuel consumption.
Only Tripura and Bihar meet the Niti Aayog’s target of 64.1 kg fossil fuel consumption per capita.
The all-India average is 157.3 kg, but about two-thirds of states consume more.
Among larger states, Haryana (415 kg), Gujarat (351 kg) and Punjab (255 kg) consume significantly more.
However, it is the less-industrialised states like Bihar and Odisha that bear the brunt of the adverse effects due to climate change such as flooding and cyclones.

Govt should impose a ‘carbon pricing’, effectively penalising large fossil fuel consumers.
While India does not have an explicit carbon price, excise duties serve as an implicit form of carbon pricing.
Carbon pricing would account for negative externalities from fossil fuel consumption and enable the redistribution of resources to strengthen adaptation options in states most vulnerable to climate change.