India deserves ‘climate justice’, Pradhan reminds US-led West

Delivering the inaugural address at an Expert Workshop organised by the Petroleum Federation of India, in association with the World Petroleum Council on Carbon Emission Management: Upstream & Downstream Best Practices and Opportunities at New Delhi, Pradhan noted that the people most adversely affected by climate change are the poor of developing countries like India.

He mentioned that this is why Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned last month that the discourse must shift focus from ‘climate change’ to ‘climate justice’.  India, Pradhan pointed out, is a fast growing economy and has voluntarily accepted responsibilities towards carbon emission management.   

A number of initiatives have been taken during the past 1½ years which will directly reduce carbon emissions. Diesel price deregulation, progressively improving of auto fuel specifications for both petrol and diesel are steps towards reduction in carbon emissions.  

The Director Benefit Transfer scheme for domestic LPG cooking gas subsidy has been recognised as the largest such scheme in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records.  To provide LPG connections to rural households and relieve them from cooking with firewood or biomass, the reach of LPG will be extended to 75 per cent of Indian households over the next four years.   

Energy efficiency standards too have been introduced not only for consumer products but also for industry.  The smart cities mission, which will cover 100 cities over a five-year duration, would also reduce carbon dioxide emissions substantially, Pradhan added.

In its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, India has pledged to improve the carbon emission intensity of GDP by 33 to 35 per cent by 2030 from the 2005 level and to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 billion to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030, observed Pradhan.

In the valedictory address at the end of the 1½-day workshop, Petroleum & Natural Gas Secretary K D Tripathi exhorted corporates not to wait for Government to drive change but to reorient their business strategies and expansion plans with an eye on increasing energy efficiency, reducing GHG emissions and adopting innovative technologies which diminish fossil fuel consumption.  The trend set by the top 10 global oil & gas companies, and more than four score others in the United States, for a collective support for effective climate change agreement must be strengthened and taken forward, he added.

Earlier, IndianOil and PetroFed Chairman B Ashok sharply brought out in his address the fact that the global oil & gas industry is a significant contributor to GHG emissions.  The flaring of gas and its production value chain too contribute to methane emissions.   It is important, therefore, not only to adopt energy efficient technologies and processes but to consider the impacts of climate change as a part of project conceptualisation.   

What is needed, he pointed out, is a change in mindset.  Energy conservation and energy efficiency should not be looked at only in terms of saving oil or gas but also in terms of reduction in GHG emissions. Even the Swachh Bharat Mission of the Prime Minister will translate into not merely cleanliness but also reduction in GHG emissions. 

The Director-General of the World Petroleum Council, Dr Pierce Riemer, discussed the problem of carbon emissions in the global context and the need for energy efficiency and other steps required to be taken to ameliorate the conditions.  He pointed out that the world will need an extra 6 million barrels per day by next year and that to reduce energy use, we need to have more efficient end-use, carbon capture and alternate energy sources.

Anita Marangoly George, Senior Director, Energy Extractive Industries Practice, World Bank Group, during her theme address said that 1.1 billion people in the world don’t have access to energy and 2.9 billion are without access to efficient cooking fuels.  There are 1.5 billion people who do not have access to reliable energy.   

The oil & gas industry, she said, needs to make a dent these areas.  Globally, $560 billion are spent on oil subsidies whereas 80 per cent of the subsidies go to the top 40 per cent.  She rooted for zero routine flaring by 2030.  This mission was launched by the World Bank in April this year.  To put in perspective, she said, 140 billion cubic metres of gas is flared every day.  The oil companies, she said, should pledge to have zero flaring in new oil fields.

Earlier, World Petroleum Council President Dr Jozsef Toth complimented the Petroleum Federation of India for hosting the meetings of the WPC and the organisation of this excellent workshop. Dr R K Malhotra, Director-General of PetroFed, in his welcome address gave a broad and comprehensive picture of the issues involved in carbon emission, its management and issues of energy efficiency besides renewable energy.

The workshop was split into four sessions covering upstream, downstream, midstream, GHG accounting standards and alternatives for carbon emission reduction.  The sessions were chaired by eminent experts like Oil & Natural Gas Corporation CMD D K Sarraf, ONGC Director (Exploration) A K Dwivedi, World Petroleum Council Director-General Dr Pierce Riemer, HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd Managing Director and CEO Prabh Das, Petroleum & Natural Gas Additional Secretary (Exploration) U P Singh, Oil India Ltd Director (Operations) P K Sharma and Prize Petroleum Co Ltd Chief Executive Officer M K Surana.