Greenpeace slams Low Carbon Economy report

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Greenpeace on Tuesday slammed the interim Low Carbon Economy report, saying the report is unclear in its suggestions and it ignores the best low carbon option - renewable energy.

It added that a great opportunity has been missed by failing to set a clear vision or ambition on renewable energy, said a press release.

The interim report, released by Kirit Parikh along with other members of the low carbon economy group in Delhi, gives indicative suggestions for India to adopt a low carbon pathway in the 12th five year plan.

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“The interim report is an incomplete first step. Not only does the interim report ignore renewable energy but also credits coal and nuclear energy as low carbon. The interim report is highly unsatisfactory from the options it lays out,” said Greenpeace India policy officer Siddharth Pathk

He said he hopes that in the final report, the low carbon economy group will give due diligence to the technology choices they are prescribing as current options would lock India into a high carbon pathway.

While noting the efforts of the group, especially on its approach to efficiency in motor vehicle and transportation, Greenpeace recommended increasing the renewable energy portfolio in India to further push up the carbon intensity target along with clearly identifying the financial and technological barriers to low carbon growth.

Greenpeace said that the low carbon interim report is unclear in its suggestions and it falls short of its mandate by doing a back calculation from the Copenhagen target and trying to justify the target rather than actually looking at low carbon options available to India. It does not address the issue of financing low carbon growth and how to remove barriers around financing low carbon growth, said Greenpeace.