India’s Second Biennial Update Report to UNFCCC

Under the Paris Agreement, each country is required to submit biennial update reports (BURs) to UNFCCC. India’s Second BUR was submitted to UNFCCC in early January 2019. The BUR contained five major components:

1.   National Circumstances

2.   National Greenhouse Gas Inventory

3.   Mitigation Actions

4.   Domestic Monitoring, Reporting and Verification

5.   Finance, Technology and Capacity Building Needs and Support Received.

Key Messages of the Report:

·      Total annual GHG emissions have increased from 2,136.8 million tonnes (Mt) of CO2e in 2010 to 2,607.5 Mt of CO2e in 2014.

·      The emission intensity of India’s GDP has reduced by 21% over the period of 2005-2014.

·      Solar installed capacity in India has increased by about 9 times from 2.63 GW to 23.28 GW between March 2014 and August 2018.

·      The share of non-fossil sources in installed capacity of electricity generation increased from 30.5% in March 2015 to 35.5% in June 2018.

·      Supercritical thermal power units have risen from 40 (27.48 GW in 2015) to 66 (45.55 GW in 2018) with avoided emissions amounting to 7 MtCO2 in 2016-17.

·      A total of 170 old thermal generation units having a higher heat rate and a cumulative capacity of 10.64 GW, have been retired till March 2018.

·      Forest and tree cover increased from 24% of the total geographical area in 2013 to 24.39% in 2017.

·      Perform Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme for energy efficiency in industries and other energy-intensive sectors, covering 478 designated consumers (DCs), avoided emissions of 31 MtCO2 in cycle I (April 2012 to March 2015).

·      Around 137 MtCO2 has been sequestered from 2010 to 2016 due to the National Horticulture Mission.

·      India is partnering 22 member countries and the European Union in the ‘Mission Innovation’ on clean energy, and is a co-lead in smart grid, off-grid, and sustainable biofuels innovation challenges.

·      More than 312 million LED bulbs have been distributed till October 2018 under the UJALA programme. Replacement of incandescent and CFL bulbs by LED bulbs has resulted in energy saving of about 40 billion kWh and reduction of 33 MtCO2 per year (as in October 2018).