India's emissions are actually rising fast. In 2023, we released three billion tons of carbon dioxide, making us the third largest emitter in the world. And yet, look at our vulnerability. Heat waves last year hit twenty-three states. Floods now displace tens of millions every year. Agriculture, on which more than half of India still survives, is at the mercy of the climate. I ask you, is this a victory or rather a warning?
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Acharya Prashant: So, of late, we have been congratulating ourselves. It is everywhere in the papers and in the media that we have done a lot on our climate goals, specifically in the area of renewable energy generation. We are patting our backs that we have achieved the target of having 50% installed capacity from renewable sources five years ahead of schedule. We were supposed to reach there in 2030 as per our climate goals and international obligations, but we have done that ahead of time in 2025.
Now, why is that significant? Because we are staring at the horrible spectre of climate change. Climate change happens due to the accumulation of excess CO2 in the atmosphere. And that excess CO2 is released not due to natural reasons but because of man-made reasons. This is called anthropogenic climate change — climate change happening because of what man is doing, what our species is doing.
This carbon dioxide is released primarily due to energy generation, and that includes electricity generation. When it comes to the sources that release the maximum carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, energy generation comes first and animal agriculture comes second. When you want to generate electricity and if you are doing it through fossil fuel — gas, petrol, diesel, coal, all of these constitute fossil fuels. If you burn fossil fuel to generate electricity or energy, then you are bound to release CO2 into the atmosphere.
