India?s Integrated Energy Policy suggests that by 2030 India will be importing more than 90% of oil and about two-third to three-fourth of coal. On the one hand it is a challenge to meet the energy demands of an emerging economy. On the other is the debate on equity in multilateral negotiations in climate change, that once again came to the fore earlier this week. Shyam Saran, India?s chief climate envoy highlighted concerns about emission targets for the developing world saying ?if India is to maintain its economic growth at 8-9%, it should reduce dependence on fossil fuel and shift focus to renewables.? It will hike up the nation?s energy cost significantly. That apart, about 61% of India?s greenhouse gas emissions come from energy generation. (See box below)
Harpal Singh, Chairman Emeritus, Fortis Healthcare is ?optimistic to find Indian companies voluntarily disclosing their carbon footprints and trying to keep emissions under control.? Currently 43% of the Indian companies report emission data. However, while India leads the way in Clean Development Mechanism projects, it lags in emissions disclosure and data, says the Carbon Disclosure Project Report 2008.
Herein lies the opportunity. The estimated market potential in energy efficiency, energy conservation and management is over $2 bn a year, only a fifth of this potential is currently exploited. Now, the National Mission for Energy Efficiency in an attempt to regulate the carbon emission levels by the private sector has evolved Perform, Achieve and Trade model. Industrial units will be issued energy saving certificates by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency against energy efficiency targets set for them. Those who exceed their targets can sell their points.
While it remains to be seen if that incentive works, the private sector does understand the need for a planned transition to a low carbon economy. Sustainability has emerged as the buzz word for them too, but not without the added tag of ?incentives?. Consider Coca-Cola. ?We are making beverages from desalinated water in Maldives. If all industries can be water positive or water neutral it will bring about a big difference. At the same time, there is a need to incentivise the private sector ? the cost of desalination should be reduced,? feels Atul Singh, President and CEO, Coca-Cola India. Coca Cola, with WWF, is also analysing its massive supply chain to figure out of it can reduce the impact by way of 5% of world?s sugar crop that it is using. It?s target: improving water efficiency by 20% by 2012.
Umesh Narain Panjiar too feels that ?The private sector has a lot of potential? and advocates for ?incentivisation.? He also points out at administrative inadequacies: ?State Regulatory Authorities need to be set up. Presently only two states have them,? says Panjiar, Secretary, Ministry of Water
Resources, Government of India.
For some other industries sustainability is akin to survival. M L Pachisia, for instance, is concerned about raw material for his industry. ?Are our policies in place,? he thinks aloud. The MD of Orient Papers and Industries, Pachisia, is stating the fact when he says that his industry cannot exist without wood. But he is saying it with a concern. ?Our capacity is just five mn tonnes and by 2020 the demand will rise to 13 mn tonnes. We need 1.5 mn hectares of land to meet the requirement ? that?s hardly 2% of the unutilised land available. It can create carbon credits worth Rs 170 cr. Right moves can make us the international players in pulpwood. ?
It?s difficult to differ with him. ?More than 50% forests in Sweden and Finland are private forests. It takes 70-90 years for a tree to fully grow in those countries and just 7-10 years in a tropical country like India. We must look at leasing wastelands to private players to develop forests,? suggests K P Nyati Principal Advisor CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development. Clearly, along with the intention of the corporate houses to improve their green quotient are bottlenecks. Strong incentives to adopt green practices can help immensely in expediting the green agenda.
Energy efficiency
Energy intensive industries namely fertilisers, aluminum, textiles, cement, iron & steel, pulp & paper, and chlor- alkalis consume around 65% of total industrial energy. A CII study on energy efficiency estimated that Indian Industry has the potential to save upto 20 to 30% of total energy consumption.
Switch it off
1,760 cities, towns and municipalities in 80 countries have already committed to Vote Earth for Earth Hour 2009, as part of the world?s first global election between Earth and global warming. And it?s the first for India. Ravi Singh, CEO, WWF- India tells Kiran Yadav that it is an act that goes well beyond mere symbolism.
•Earth Hour will be observed in India for the first time this year. Why didn?t we have it in 2007 and ?08?
Only WWF-Australia did it in 2007. Last year it expanded to 35 countries and now it has become a movement. India did participate in a small way last year. We thought there should be a proper time to introduce an issue like climate change. 2009 was more comfortable to us than 2008, as this is also the year the world decided on a global treaty to usurp Kyoto. It is also imperative that India being one of the key countries, sends a positive message of environmental reforms in the lead up to December ?09, Copenhagen. One of the aims of Earth Hour is to address this aspect and reach out to the decision makers with a message from the citizens as well as the civil society.
•What is the kind of response that you have received from the industry?
We have received overwhelming response from the industry ? all our partners whom we have approached have shown great enthusiasm to come on board. WIPRO, HP, ING Vysya, ITC Welcom group, NDPL, Nokia, CB Richard Ellis, HSBC, Tetra Pak are some partners who are observing Earth Hour.
•Which are the cities participating?
Besides Delhi and Mumbai, Bangalore is also participating in a big way. Earth Hour is also becoming a peoples? movement in other cities like Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Cochin and Amritsar.
•What is the significance for the Earth Hour in India?
We are not positioning Earth Hour as a cost/energy saving tool. This is primarily a communication tool that will help people say that they care for the world and are willing to take action against global warming. It is to make people understand the immediacy and gravity of an issue like climate change, draw a link between more efficient energy consumption and a healthier planet. This holds huge potential for India as we have a large percentage of educated urban youth who are also the target for this campaign, and should serve as ambassadors for action on climate change in the future as well.
