Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions in India

The report assesses India's emissions profile and the financial mechanisms available for mitigation, arguing that current international tools like the CDM and GEF are inadequate for the scale of transformation needed. It proposes shifting from project-based to programmatic financing and recommends specific collaborative initiatives in solar energy, energy efficiency, and the reduction of black carbon from clean cooking stoves.

• India's greenhouse gas emissions rose by approximately 50 per cent between 1994 and 2005, with the energy sector being the primary driver, accounting for about 61 per cent of total CO2e emissions in 1994.
• The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Global Environment Facility (GEF) have failed to provide the scale of finance necessary for transformative change in India's energy sector. While India has hosted about 21 per cent of worldwide Certified Emission Reductions (CERs), the CDM is criticized for low technology transfer rates (16 per cent of projects) and high transaction costs that exclude small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
• India's National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) includes an ambitious target to install 20,000 MW of solar generation capacity by 2020, 100,000 MW by 2030, and 200,000 MW by 2050.
• Reducing 'black carbon' (soot) from the non-commercial energy sector, particularly through clean cooking stoves, offers immediate regional climate benefits and significant health improvements, as indoor smoke is estimated to cause over 400,000 deaths annually in India.
• There is a fundamental divergence in perspectives on climate finance: the EU emphasizes a liquid carbon market and sectoral approaches to maximize cost-effectiveness, while India prioritizes 'new, additional, adequate and predictable' grant-based finance through the UNFCCC, viewing bilateral aid as separate from climate obligations.
• The report recommends three specific areas for EU-India collaboration: implementing a clean-cooking stoves program to reduce black carbon, creating a financial and research package for solar energy deployment via European Development Banks, and supporting the National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency through credit lines for Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) and SME-focused research.
• Incremental investment costs for shifting India to a low-carbon pathway are high; some estimates suggest needs could reach tens of billions of Euros annually until 2030, with McKinsey estimating annual needs of €13 billion between 2010-2020 and €23 billion between 2020-2030.

APA

Atteridge, A., Axberg, G. N., Goel, N., Kumar, A., Lazarus, M., Ostwald, M., Polycarp, C., Tollefsen, P., Torvanger, A., Upadhyaya, P., & Zetterberg, L. (2009). Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions in India. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate-mitigation-adaptation/reducinggreenhousegasemissions-india.pdf

Chicago

Atteridge, Aaron, Göran Nilsson Axberg, Nitu Goel, Atul Kumar, Michael Lazarus, Madelene Ostwald, Clifford Polycarp, et al. Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions in India. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2009. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate-mitigation-adaptation/reducinggreenhousegasemissions-india.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{atteridge2009reducing, author = {Atteridge, Aaron and Axberg, Göran Nilsson and Goel, Nitu and Kumar, Atul and Lazarus, Michael and Ostwald, Madelene and Polycarp, Clifford and Tollefsen, Petter and Torvanger, Asbjørn and Upadhyaya, Prabhat and Zetterberg, Lars}, title = {{Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions in India}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2009}, month = oct, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate-mitigation-adaptation/reducinggreenhousegasemissions-india.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }