India, U.S. to collaborate on

Context:

Official visit of the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate to India for the launch of the Climate Action and Finance Mobilization Dialogue (CAFMD).

Relevance:

GS-II: International Relations (Important International Treaties and Agreements), GS-III: Environment and Ecology (Environmental Pollution and degradation, Conservation of Environment and Ecology)

Dimensions of the Article:

1. About the Climate Action and Finance Mobilisation Dialogue (CAFMD)
2. Significance of the deal
3. Opportunity for India

About the Climate Action and Finance Mobilisation Dialogue (CAFMD)

• The Climate Action and Finance Mobilisation Dialogue (CAFMD) is one of the two tracks of the India-US Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 partnership launched at the Leaders’ Summit on Climate in April 2021. Prior to this, the revamped US-India Strategic Clean Energy Partnership SCEP (first track) was launched.
• CAFMD will provide both countries an opportunity to renew collaborations on climate change while addressing financing aspects and deliver climate finances primarily as grants and concessional finance as envisaged under the Paris Agreement.
• CAFMD will also help to demonstrate how the world can align swift climate action with inclusive and resilient economic development, taking into account national circumstances and sustainable development priorities.
• Pillars to the CAFM are:
  1. Climate Action Pillar- It would have joint proposals looking at ways in which emissions could be reduced in the next decade.
  2. Finance Pillar- Through this the US will collaborate in attracting capital and enhancing the enabling environment to deploy 450 GW of renewable energy capacity in India and demonstrate and scale innovative clean energy technologies and promote bilateral clean energy investment and trade.
  3. Adaptation and Resilience- The two countries will collaborate in building capacities to “measure and manage climate risks”.

Significance of the deal

• The United States will collaborate with India to work towards installing 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030 by helping in bringing finance, technology and other elements needed to achieve the goal. This will help speed India’s clean energy transition.
• The visit of the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate to India is aimed at helping raise global climate ambition with support from the developed countries to developing countries in the form of finance and technology transfer. The CAFMD is a step in this direction.
• A key mission for the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate is to build global support for ‘Net Zero’ or carbon neutrality by 2050. A major theme building ahead of the climate talks is Carbon Neutrality. (As of now a little over 120 countries have committed, with varying degrees of firmness, to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. India however has not committed to a 2050 plan for Carbon Neutrality.)

Opportunity for India

• There’s never been a better time to invest in the energy transition. Renewable energy is cheaper than ever.
• In fact, it is cheaper to build a solar farm in India than anywhere else on the planet.
• Investors are now moving to clean energy all around the world and the energy transition is already rebounding after the worst of the pandemic and is now on track to smash the pre-pandemic record of 8.4 billion USD invested in one year.
• The International Energy Agency forecasts that if India seizes the clean energy opportunity, it could become the world’s largest market for batteries and solar panels.

-Source: The Hindu