New Delhi: The World Economic Forum on Wednesday (June 28) ranked India at the 67th place globally on its Energy Transition Index and said it is the only major economy with energy transition momentum accelerating across all dimensions. Sweden topped the list and was followed by Denmark, Norway, Finland and Switzerland in the top five on the list of 120 countries.
Releasing the report published in collaboration with Accenture, the WEF said the global energy transition has plateaued amid the global energy crisis and geopolitical volatilities, but India is among the countries that have made significant improvements. The WEF said,
India is the only major economy with energy transition momentum accelerating across the Energy Transition Index’s equitable, secure and sustainable dimensions. For example, despite continued economic growth, India has successfully reduced the energy intensity of its economy and the carbon intensity of its energy mix, while achieving universal energy access and effectively managing affordability of electricity
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Achieving universal access to electricity, replacing solid fuels with clean cooking options and increasing renewable energy deployment have been primary contributors to the improvement of India’s performance.
India also emerged relatively less affected from the recent energy crisis, largely due to the low share of natural gas in power generation and increased use of existing generation capacities.
The WEF said,
Although the country maintains a well-diversified mix of energy trade partners, rising import dependence represents a risk amid global energy market volatilities
The energy mix, however, remains predominantly carbon intensive, with a low share of clean energy in final demand. The WEF said,
Improvements in the enabling environment have been driven by political commitment, an ambitious reform agenda, infrastructure investments and a competitive renewable energy landscape
On the road ahead, the WEF said in its report that the pace of thermal power plant expansion has considerably slowed in India, though strategies for early retirement or repurposing of the existing fleet will be crucial. It added,
Continued progress will be challenged by two key macro trends: strong economic growth, and the urgency to create quality jobs for a growing working age population. A skilled workforce, public-private collaboration in innovation, and investment in research and development in low-carbon technologies are necessary to enable India’s energy transition
Besides India, Singapore is the only other major economy showing “true momentum by advancing sustainability, energy security and equity in a balanced way”, the WEF said.
France (7) was the only G20 country in the top 10, followed closely by Germany (11), the US (12), and the UK (13).
The WEF said that out of 120 countries, 113 have made progress over the last decade but only 55, including India, have improved their scores by more than 10 percentage points.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toiletsare used and open defecation free (ODF)status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
