‘India will reach carbon neutrality before 2070’

Apush towards renewable energy transition will need massive efforts and investments to meet the Paris Agreement goal of keeping global warming under 2 degrees Celsius, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Francesco La Camera, director general of IRENA, who is on a trip to Delhi, speaks to Jayashree Nandi. Edited excerpts:

Do you think the RussiaUkraine conflict will derail the renewable energy transition globally?

Naturally, the Ukraine crisis will have an impact on everyone. During the Covid-19 crisis, there was concern about its impact on our economy and energy transition. But the numbers have shown that energy transition was not delayed... With a record high of new renewable energy installed capacity in 2020 and 2021, including in India, where you added 13 GW more of renewable energy despite Covid crisis. Therefore, the current crisis will impact us but at a certain time it will also provide a push to move to renewable energy systems. The governments have finally understood that the centralised base of fossil fuel systems is not able to provide reliable support to global development.

PM Modi has made several commitments in Glasgow such as transition to net zero emissions by 2070. Do you think these are feasible?

More than my opinion, we should consider the facts. If you think of COP21 and Paris Agreement which came out of it in 2015, India has already achieved its targets under the agreement. Now it is showing more ambition by increasing renewable energy capacity, energy efficiency and a decarbonisation goal for 2070. We think India will be able to reach carbon neutrality well before 2070. We see they are moving in all the spectrum of renewables.

IRENA’s World Energy Transitions Outlook report last month said $5.7 trillion investment per year until 2030 is needed to avoid stranded assets. Where do you think this finance for transition will come from?

We are really in a moment where if we don’t dramatically change the way we are producing and consuming energy, the 1.5°C or even the 2°C goal of the Paris Agreement will vanish soon.

The urgency has to be reflected in the efforts and investment needed to put us back on track for achieving the Paris Agreement goals.

This is the reason we have this big number for investment in our report. Around 80% of previous investments in energy transition came from the private sector. Private involvement will be more relevant in the years to come. But public intervention is still very important in terms of investment and policy. For example, the infrastructure may allow for more renewables to the grid, ensuring flexibility, putting in place the legal environment for money to flow...

In last two days, you have met several ministers and the CEO of the Skill Council for Green Jobs. How do you plan to partner with India?

We have met several officials and ministers in the past two days. We are trying to understand where IRENA can work together with Indian authorities to accelerate renewable energy transition. So, we are defining a plan of work also in the light of India taking the G20 Presidency next year. We had a very interesting meeting with the skill council. We will work on a report on jobs in the renewable energy sector in India...