India

Context of the action

India is currently the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. The country is highly vulnerable to climate change and extreme weather events, such as heat waves, droughts and floods. Rapid urbanisation fuelled by both climate and economic migration further influences weather patterns and increases energy consumption.

India announced its updated 2030 targets, and a 2070 net-zero target at the United Nations climate change talks (COP26). The country aims to get 50% of its energy from renewable resources by 2030, and by the same year to reduce total emissions by a billion tonnes.

The objective of the EU-India climate dialogue is to deepen cooperation on the reduction of greenhouse gases and the enhanced resilience against climate change. Specific priority areas under SPIPA include networking, capacity building and knowledge management, low-carbon modelling, adaptation, technical exchange on the monitoring of climate action, and mitigation.

SPIPA action

Against the backdrop of the 2070 net-zero target, key intervention areas of SPIPA – such as the strengthening of low-carbon modelling capabilities at national level and the development of overarching State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCCs) encompassing mitigation, adaptation and awareness-raising strategies – are poised to provide a highly relevant impulse to an increased level of ambition.

An advisory to the revision process of SAPCCs supported the alignment of regional development priorities and the local environmental context with India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change. The set-up of Climate Change Learning Labs further facilitated the dissemination of information on solutions to climate change to encourage different stakeholders to take action.

To further engage with the youth and underline the importance of young people in accelerating the pace of change needed to achieve the Paris Agreement goals, SPIPA supported the organisation of the Youth Climate Conclave . The Youth Declaration on Climate Action emanating from the event called upon heads of state to acknowledge and act in accordance with priorities that will strengthen climate action.

Complementing the above overarching themes are targeted sectoral contributions addressing adaptation and mitigation more specifically. The outcomes of the Adaptation Futures Conference and the India-EU Experience Sharing on Adaptation Planning stand out, together with examples of highly focused interventions such as a prospectus supporting investment for grid-connected efficient solar pumps and sectoral studies on the steel (including small-scale), cement, ammonia and petrochemical sectors.

India was also a part of a SPIPA multi-country activity on Just Transition.

The breadth and depth of the engagement have proven instrumental to fostering high-level climate dialogue between the EU and India, and lay a solid foundation for further initiatives. There’s a strong interest in further developing some of the key pillars of SPIPA action in India – most notably, the low-carbon modelling initiatives – as part of further engagement in the country.