India must join forces with booming countries to explore state-of-the-art technologies for cheaper CDR.
Furthermore, booming countries generating massive amounts of emissions per capita must take responsibility for CDR.
Since CDR is expensive, India must join forces with rich countries to retrieve carbon in usable forms.
Why must India join forces with booming countries for CDR?
Earth’s rising temperatures crossed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as per a report from IPCC.
Temperatures crossing the Paris Accord target of limiting warming raise global risk, calling for urgent CDR.
Part 3 of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report states, “All globals modelled pathways that limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot, and those that limit warming to 2°C (>67%) involve rapid and deep and in most cases immediate GHG emission reductions in all sectors.”
“Modelled mitigation strategies to achieve these reductions include transitioning from fossil fuels without CCS to very low- or zero-carbon energy sources, such as renewables or fossil fuels with CCS, demand side measures and improving efficiency, reducing non-CO2 emissions, and deploying carbon dioxide removal (CDR) methods to counterbalance residual GHG emissions.”
Why is there an urgent need for carbon dioxide removal?
As per the report, South Asia’s average production emissions account for 1.6 tonnes and 1.5 tonnes in consumption.
Europe accounts for 6.5 tonnes and 7.8 tonnes, respectively.
However, North America accounts for 16 tonnes in production and 17 tonnes in consumption.
Nevertheless, countries contributing to massive emissions should take responsibility for CDR.
How to achieve effective CDR?
High emission countries can use atmospheric CO2 to produce plastic to achieve reductions in CDR costs.
India must join forces with booming countries to discover ways to capture CO2 for useful chemical processes.
Nevertheless, India’s foremost responsibility is to give CDR utmost priority and change the discourse on climate change.
Lastly,
India would benefit in the long run by joining forces with booming countries for less expensive CDRs.
Also Read – Mumbai’s Climate Action Plan: A game-changer for India