- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Pramod Thomas
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi along with 40 world leaders on Tuesday (2) backed UK’s ‘Glasgow Breakthroughs’ international plan to deliver clean and affordable technology everywhere by 2030.
India has joined the US, European Union, China, among others representing more than 70 per cent of the world’s economy and every region to sign up to the agenda.
The Breakthrough Agenda will see countries and businesses coordinate and strengthen their climate action each year to dramatically scale and speed up the development and deployment of clean technologies and drive down costs this decade.
“By making clean technology the most affordable, accessible and attractive choice, the default go-to in what are currently the most polluting sectors, we can cut emissions right around the world,” said British prime minister Boris Johnson.
“The Glasgow Breakthroughs will turbocharge this forward so that by 2030 clean technologies can be enjoyed everywhere, not only reducing emissions but also creating more jobs and greater prosperity.”
It will support the developing world to access the innovation and tools needed to transition to net-zero by 2030.
Johnson flagged high-level targets to push clean power, zero-emissions autos, near-zero-emission steel, low-carbon hydrogen and climate-resilient agriculture.
The plan will see countries and businesses work closely through a range of leading international initiatives to accelerate innovation and scale-up green industries.
It includes stimulating green investment through strong signals to industry about the future economy, aligning policies and standards, joining R&D efforts, coordinating public investments and mobilising private finance particularly for developing nations.
According to a statement, delivering the first five breakthroughs could create 20 million new jobs globally and add over $16 trillion across both emerging and advanced economies.
The UK says Glasgow Breakthroughs will drive forward global progress to halving emissions by 2030, which is crucial to keeping the limit to temperatures rising to 1.5C within reach.
It also targets to secure global action on phasing out coal and accelerating the transition to electric vehicles.
Leaders will also commit to discuss global progress every year in each sector starting next year. It will be supported by annual reports led by the International Energy Agency in collaboration with the International Renewable Energy Agency and UN high-Level champions – with annual discussions of ministers across government convened around the Mission Innovation and Clean Energy Ministerial.
