Growth in India’s carbon emissions could be nearly halved by the year 2030 through the use of known practices and technologies, according to a new report from McKinsey & Company
Through a ‘step-change in…efforts to lower emissions,’ India’s carbon output could grow from 1.6 billion tons in 2005 to 2.8 billion tons in 2030 as the country’s population expands and its economy develops, the report said. This is down from a previously projected 5-6 billion tons for 2030.
Despite the potential, 90 percent of the identified emissions-reduction opportunities for India will prove difficult or expensive to achieve, the report said. Just to implement the solutions, the country will require additional investment of between US$ 869 billion and $1.1 trillion between 2010 and 2030-roughly 1.8-2.3 percent of India’s GDP over this period. The projection also exceeds India’s RLS expected energy infrastructure investment needs of $1.3 trillion between 2006 and 2030, according to data from the International Energy Agency.
Other challenges that India would face in such a transition include the need for behavioural change among the population, difficulties in the effective distribution of goods and services, the lack of education and training around new technologies or practices, and the need to ready different technologies for mass rollout. Combined, these factors render up to 90 percent of the opportunities that India faces either difficult or expensive to implement, McKinsey concluded.
Sometimes, when I read such analysis from firms such as McKinsey, I wonder, OK, but they are stating the obvious. I’m sure that the report will contain more micro-steps to be taken, but saying all those are easy. How difficult will these measures to be implement, and where is the government going to find a trillion dollars?
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