India is blessed with natural rich resources and these resources have been decimated in the desperate quest for economic growth to support our large population. The swift growth of industries without profound enforcement of environmental regulations has however fostered the pollution peril. Some of these environmental problems can be addressed by technological and policy changes within India. Carbon emissions being one such problem in India, has been recurrently discussed with an aim to moderate emissions of climate-altering carbon to allay the impact of drastic emissions. 

Carbon is an element that is literally present ubiquitously and in every form conceivable. Be it in the air, the chemical make-up of bodies of living organism or the soil, it can be found wherever human life can encompass its precincts. This is what makes carbon emission a critical issue all across the globe. When we speak of carbon emission, we predominantly talk about the release of carbon dioxide in the air. Carbon emission is both piloted by natural as well as human made sources. While the natural release of carbon dioxide can uphold its equilibrium, human made sources however create imbalances in this state of equilibrium. CO₂ is an exceedingly disruptive gas. It is responsible for ensnaring greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which in turn leads to climate change and global warming. Global emissions of CO₂ have escalated by almost 50% since 1990, which implies that the advent of 21st century has resulted in an accelerated carbon emission between 2000 to 2010, much higher than the previous decades. 

India, currently ranks as the 4th highest emitter of carbon dioxide across the globe, which accounted for 7%  of global emissions in 2017, according to the Global Carbon Project. The Global Carbon Project reports that the augmented carbon emissions is attributed to the strong economic growth of around 8% per year. [1] This sharp escalation in the carbon emissions in India is being associated to a hyped coal consumption as mining outputs grow to supply existing power stations. Coal, a massive contributor to the power sector of India, also happens to consist carbon. The burning of coal is thereby harmful. Given the robust upsurge in energy utilisation by a developing country such as India, the current scenario of renewable resources such as wind or solar energy cannot substitute for coal in the country. 

To solve this environment menace of carbon emission, mitigating efforts should be full flung by now. In 2018, India  coped to reduce its carbon emissions by 12 per cent, as quoted by India’s second Biennial Update Report (BUR) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). [2] India has also formally ratified the Paris Agreement and thereby committed to reduce the emission intensity of  GDP by a margin of 20-25% starting from 2005 to 2020 and a larger margin of 33-35% by the year 2030. To tackle the climate change caused through these carbon emissions, the Indian government has enforced  National Action Plan on Climate Change  as well as a National Mission for Green India. These national policies focus on enhancing the energy efficiency and programmes for solar energy which can be very well used to substitute carbon utilisation for energy purposes in the near future. 

 However, the  continuous growth of emissions also suggests that the current climate policies are insufficient to support the uprising energy consumption. India has high scope in industrial growth and with the ever increasing population and economic production, the need for power supplies is never ending. Thus the fight to mitigate carbon emissions is sought to be a long one.  

Sources:

[1] https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/ 

[2] https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/climate-change/india-s-rate-of-reducing-carbon-footprint-with-greenery-a-flat-line-for-years-62627

[3] //economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/66963109.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst