Context: The Indian Government has cleared the submission of the country’s Third National Communication (TNC) and Initial Adaptation Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 

India’s Climate Commitment: Fulfilling Convention and Paris Agreement Obligations

• The submission will fulfill India’s obligation to furnish information under the Convention and the Paris Agreement.
• The Third National Communication document itself is yet to be made public. It is based on the National Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory 2019.
• India is one among the 26 developing countries that have submitted their communications based on the GHG inventory of 2019 or later years. 
• China submitted its latest communication with GHG inventory of 2014, Brazil in 2016, South Africa in 2017, and Saudi Arabia in 2012.

Also Read: COP28 Approved Agreement on New “Loss and Damage” Fund for Vulnerable Countries

What are the key findings of the Third National Communication?

• Emission Intensity Reduction: India achieved a 33% reduction in its gross domestic product (GDP) emission intensity between 2005 and 2019.
• Non-fossil Fuel Power Capacity: Currently, India has a 41% share of clean power capacity, surpassing the original target of 40% for 2030. The revised target is an ambitious 50% as of 2022.
• Greenhouse Gas Emissions (2019): The energy sector contributed 75.81%, the agriculture sector 13.44%, the industrial processes, and product use (IPPU) sector 8.41%, and waste 2.34% to GHG emissions.
• Net National Emissions (2019): India’s net national emissions in 2019 were 26,46,556 gigagrammes of CO2 equivalent, an increase of 4.56% since 2016.
• Carbon Sink Creation: India added a carbon sink of 1.97 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent between 2005 and 2019 towards the NDC target of 2.5 to 3.0 billion tonnes by 2030.
• Climate Finance: India has largely met its commitments through its financial resources and urges developed countries to fulfill the $100 billion climate finance commitment.
• Adaptation Expenditure: Public finance covers most adaptation activities, with an expenditure of 5.6% of GDP in FY 2021-2022, marking an increase from 3.7% in 2015-16.

News Source: DTE