00:00Of late, we have been congratulating ourselves, it's everywhere in the papers and in the media,
00:06that we have done a lot on our climate goals, specifically in the area of renewable energy generation.
00:14India has once again risen to its commitment to non-fossil sources of energy.
00:19Notably, this achievement comes five years ahead of the 2030 targets set under the Paris Agreement.
00:24We are patting our backs that we have achieved the target of having 50% installed capacity from renewable sources five years ahead of schedule.
00:35Sounds really good.
00:36So does that mean that we are doing well, we are certainly green, that we are sincere towards climate?
00:42First thing, installed capacity means what our electricity plants could potentially produce, not what they actually do.
00:51Now, what is actually happening? The fact is, coal still generates 72% of India's electricity.
01:01And as you know, coal is the dirtiest fuel when it comes to the environment and the climate.
01:06Can we call ourselves a renewable energy nation when coal is still the king?
01:12Point two, non-fossil is not always clean.
01:17Non-fossil does sound attractive. But do you know what it includes? Solar and wind? Yes.
01:23But also, nuclear and large hydro dams.
01:27Hydro, as you might know, has displaced millions of villages, drowned entire forests and even emits methane.
01:35And the greenhouse potential of methane is 20 times that of carbon dioxide.
01:40Should all of this be called green? Or is it just convenient labeling?
01:45Point three, India's emissions are actually rising fast.
01:50In 2023, we released 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide, making us the third largest emitter in the world.
01:58Point four, the horrible fact is that coal in India is actually growing.
02:04India consumed a record 1.2 billion tons of coal in 2023.
02:10What's more? Hold your breath.
02:12Over 20 gigawatts of new coal plants are still being built.
02:18Then tell me, does that milestone in installed capacity change our coal addiction?
02:25Yes, the 50% target has been theoretically reached early.
02:30But the real challenge remains untouched.
02:33The real challenge was to cut dependence on coal.
02:36The real challenge was to actually reduce carbon emissions.
02:40The real challenge was to actually protect ourselves from the climate crisis
02:44that is already burning our fields and flooding our homes.
02:48Otherwise, these numbers that we want to brandish are just entertaining statistics.
02:54And the punishment to my beloved country will just keep getting harsher.
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