In 2021, at COP-26 in Glasgow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the ambitious target of India achieving net zero emissions by 2070. However, challenges are aplenty for the country which is a rapidly growing economy and a major victim of rising temperatures, resulting in massive energy requirements. Climate Action Tracker’s latest rating (as of September 2024) for India stands at ‘highly insufficient,’ despite several measures being implemented to encourage green efforts and increase renewable energy capacity, hinting at the need to do more.
Mahesh Ramanujam | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT Mahesh Ramanujam, CEO of the Global Network for Zero, talks to The Hindu about the role of MSMEs in achieving the net zero goal, significance of a transition plan when moving from coal to renewable energy and the importance of data and incremental measures in the journey to net zero. Can you give an overview of the existing rating systems and what you are doing differently? There are almost 87 rating systems. In my opinion, the differences between these rating systems are shrinking with maturity happening in the ecosystem.
But the key challenge always comes to quantifying progress. With Global Network, I don’t want to define another standard. It confuses customers and creates unnecessary barriers.
Our programme is incremental in nature; we meet you where you are. Overnight net zero is not feasible and a programme should not be cost-prohibitive. We are trying to iteratively .
