We are circulating a briefer on India’s net-zero by 2070 announcement to highlight a few issues relevant to climate justice in an Indian context.

Please note that when it comes to India’s climate targets, solutions in a climate justice framework are not as simple as celebrating the construction of renewables over coal in India. 

What was announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at COP26: 

• A net zero emissions by 2070 target.   
  
• 50% of electricity sourced from renewables by 2030. 
  
• Increasing non-fossil fuel energy capacity to 500 gigawatts.
  
• Reducing carbon intensity of economy by 45 per cent.
  
• Reducing total projected carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes.
  

Key points to consider: 

• The ‘fossil fuels are bad, renewables are good’ mantra doesn’t work in a climate justice frame where companies like Adani are building renewables on Indigenous land or impacting vulnerable communities in India. For example, in Tamil Nadu, Adani’s solar farm put water sources and land for livestock grazing out of reach of the local community with devastating impacts.      
  
• The ‘fossil fuels are bad, renewables are good’ mantra also does not work in a climate justice frame when we consider the many contexts within India’s economy and society: there is a contradiction between India as a developing country with one of the world’s lowest per capita emissions, India as the world’s fourth largest emitter, and also the cost of industrial-scale developments including coal on communities and their needs for justice and sustainability. 
  
• Communities in India frame justice and solutions for climate change as those which are people-centric: for example, small-grid and decentralised renewables projects can deliver autonomy and agency to communities that massive, industrial-scale solar projects cannot. 
  

Suggested DO’s and DON’Ts 

• DON’T celebrate India’s renewable energy build as a solution to climate change without acknowledging the social impacts this could have and is already having on Adivasi (Indigenous) land and communities under the principles of climate justice. 
  
• DO call out the rapid expansion of coal projects by global companies such as Adani if you are commenting on India’s climate response, and link this to the expansion of the Carmichael coal mine in Australia’s backyard, to avoid the ethical trap of looking like a Western movement telling a developing country what it should or should not do. 
  
• DO acknowledge and raise up the social impacts of projects by companies such as Adani on communities and Adivasi (Indigenous) land. See AdaniWatch for more information.  
  

Please read the briefer for more information and reach out if you have any questions. 

This will be especially helpful if you want to use the points in this email to guide your analysis or advocacy, so as to avoid misrepresentations of issues around the complexity of India’s development and climate actions