India Continues International Climate and Energy Leadership at Second Clean Energy Ministerial

In early April, India joined twenty three other countries at the second annual Clean Energy Ministerial, held in Abu Dhabi, and reaffirmed its commitment to deploying low-carbon energy. The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) is an annual gathering of the highest ranking energy ministers and officials from various countries.  It seeks to deliver tangible policy solutions around select issues to drive global clean energy deployment.  CEM member countries represent more than 70 percent of global GDP and over 80 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. At the second meeting India once again showed that it is interested in tapping into and helping to drive the global clean energy economy. It signed on to two new initiatives and announced that it would host the fourth Clean Energy Ministerial in 2013.    

This forum has real potential. It could serve as a useful platform to deliver real changes to how countries produce and use energy.  Since the last meeting, the CEM created working groups for the many areas it addresses, and expanded its membership. Over the coming year, it needs to do more. It can start by identifying clear timelines and milestones for its deliverables, so that observers can assess how much progress is actually being made. It will be critical that countries and companies involved with the CEM transform these initiatives into tangible changes on-the-ground by detailing what new steps they have taken at home to deploy more low-carbon energy in line with the eleven key initiatives of the Ministerial.  

The eleven initiatives launched last year were based on areas of common interest among participating countries and stakeholders. India signed up for four: 

• The Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment Initiative (SEAD), aimed at accelerating energy efficiency improvements in major consumer appliances (India is a co-leader along with the United States);
• The Global Superior Energy Performance Partnership (GSEP), aimed at accelerating energy efficiency improvements in buildings and industry;
• The International Smart Grid Action Network (ISGAN), aimed at improving effectiveness and deployment of smart grid technologies;
• The Clean Energy Solutions Center (CESC), aimed at assisting CEM members with design and adoption of policies that support the deployment of transformational low carbon technologies, through sharing of best practices and technical knowhow;

Other initiatives launched last year (which India did not initially join) included the Electric Vehicles Initiative (EVI), a global forum for cooperation on the development and deployment of electric vehicles, with the aim of getting 20 million electric vehicles on the world’s roads by 2020; the Carbon Capture Use and Storage Action Group (CCUS), aimed at creating political momentum for advancing the deployment of Carbon Capture and Storage; the Solar and LED Energy Access Program (SLED), aimed at transforming global markets for affordable off-the-grid solar and LED devices by addressing barriers to market development; the Sustainable Development of Hydropower Initiative, aimed at motivating multilateral funding and aid agencies to consider promoting sustainable hydropower;  the Clean Energy Education and Empowerment Women’s Initiative (C3E), aimed at preparing, inspiring and connecting women to the clean energy field and increasing women’s participation; the Bioenergy Working group, a task force to create a global bioenergy atlas and a long-term strategy for capacity building in the field of bioenergy; and the Multilateral Solar and Wind Working Group, a task force to global atlases for wind and solar energy, and to create a long-term strategy for capacity building for solar and wind power. 

India shows interest in new areas: signs of India's new priorities at home? 

During the recently concluded second CEM, India announced that it was joining the Electric Vehicles Initiative.  India also announced that since the conclusion of the first CEM it had also become a participant in the Multilateral Solar and Wind Working Group. By signing on to these two initiatives (in addition to SEAD, GSEP, ISGAN and CESC), India sent a strong signal of its priorities in the clean energy arena. India has already been proactive in developing its solar and wind capacity, with ambitious goals under its National Solar Mission, and has already collaborated closely with the United States on accelerating solar power in India. By joining the Electric Vehicles Initiative (EVI), India has demonstrated that it has its eye on automotive technology of the future and that it intends to make its own automobile industry competitive with global electric car makers.  This is significant because India’s car market, already 7th in the world, is growing rapidly. In fact, by 2050 India will have the largest aggregate number of passenger vehicles on the road compared to any other country (in other words, every sixth car produced in the world will be sold in India).  By reaffirming its commitment to the initiatives it joined last year, India also demonstrated that energy efficiency in buildings, appliances and the development of smart grid technology remain priorities in its overall efforts to transition to a clean energy economy.

Areas that India isn’t focused on at present

India’s non participation in large initiatives involving carbon capture and storage or large hydropower is also indicative of its policy priorities. While India continues to carefully study all promising technologies including CCS, it does not regard the technology as something it can commit its resources to at this point. Large hydropower projects, on the other hand, are not efforts that India shied away from in the past, but as evidence of the associated social, environmental and economic problems continues to mount, India is being circumspect about the future of its policies in this field.  

Other initiatives where Indian interests align

Interestingly, two initiatives that India has not yet signed on to but which appear to be well aligned with its policy priorities are the Bioenergy Working Group and the Clean Energy Education and Empowerment Women’s Initiative (C3E).  India has a forward-looking national policy on Biofuels, and has also identified research and development on advanced, second generation biofuels as a focus area for the joint Indo-US Clean Energy Research and Development Center. C3E would be a good fit for India’s Ministry of Women and Child Development. Given that women are often worst affected by the burning of biomass for fuel, and women’s education is likely to improve significantly with the provision of off-the-grid home-based lighting systems, the Ministry should consider  integrating education and empowerment of women on clean energy into its various existing programs. Similarly, the Planning Commission of India (whose Deputy Commissioner Dr. Ahluwalia represents India at the CEM) should consider the value of coordinating with C3E as it finalizes India’s 12th five-year-plan (2012-2017), since all plans contain separate sections focused on empowerment of women.

Clean Energy Ministerial needs to turn promise into action in 2011 and 2012. 

The Clean Energy Ministerial is now in its second year, and it has already created some momentum for clean energy programs and policies in all its member countries, including India. The Ministerial has an ambitious goal of avoiding the need for 500 additional conventional power plants by the year 2030. To do so, it needs to continue building on the progress that has been made in the last one year, and make its programs and timelines even more aggressive. We look forward to the CEM implementing its ambitious initiatives, sharing the results with the rest of the world, and providing models for other countries to adopt. In particular, we look forward to India’s continuing leadership in the CEM, and to India driving the clean energy agenda through this forum in the coming years.  India offered to host the fourth CEM in 2013 so we anticipate that it will play an important role in the lead-in to that meeting.