India needs to make smooth, viable transition from coal: Experts

A recent report by the UN's IPCC gives India a "huge" opportunity to develop differently and also stresses on the need to make smooth and viable transition from coal, two professors, who were part of the technical support unit of the IPCC, have said.

According to the report released by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), India could witness deadly heatwaves if the planet's temperature goes up by two degrees Celsius.

At +2 degrees Celsius warming, Karachi (Pakistan) and Kolkata (India) could expect annual conditions equivalent to their deadly 2015 heatwaves (medium confidence), the report stated.

Priyadarshi Shukla, Co-Chair, IPCC Working Group III (Mitigation) said the global 1.5C ambition is set to shrink available global carbon budget.

"Historically, compared to most nations, India's per capita emissions have been very low. India's socio-economic transition requires reasonable share of carbon budget so as to improve the quality of life and enhance the performance vis--vis several important SDGs," he said.

India needs to make smooth and viable transition from coal, and simultaneously safeguard related jobs in the short term, Shukla said, adding the successful transformation of coal sector would need re-skilling the workforce along-side application of emerging technologies like Carbon Capture and Storage.

Minal Pathak, senior scientist, Technical Support Unit of Working Group III (Mitigation) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said the report sends out clear messages on actions that need to be taken.

"India has several successful initiatives underway, however, these are not enough for a global 1.5 C transition. A lot more needs to be done and in time, emissions have to reach net-zero in 2030.

"For India, this is a huge opportunity to develop differently, a transformation of our cities, infrastructure, industries and the economy," Pathak said.

She said in the context of urban population expansion, the role of cities in addressing climate change is especially important.

"Can we build our cities differently? How do we re-think land use allocation, make our buildings more energy efficient, transform transportation systems by increasing the share of electric vehicles, how do we build more and better public transport systems? Can we manage urban waste differently?