Pressure is mounting on India over its continued support for coal, with both United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and the CEOs of major Indian corporates uniting in calls for Prime Minister Narenda Modi to increasingly focus investment on clean energy and electric vehicles in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
India is the world’s third largest greenhouse gas emitter after China and the United States, as well as one of biggest producers and users of coal.
As part of a COVID-19 economic recovery package announced in June, Mr Modi’s government revealed ambitions to open a further 41 coal mines.
The British environmental news website BusinessGreen reports that in a recent speech, Mr Guterres argued that India had a “crucial role to play” in cutting support for fossil fuels and further stepping up investment in renewables
He added that on top of their health and environmental impacts fossil fuels represent “a human disaster and bad economics”.
In his most starkly critical comments yet on the outlook for the global coal sector, Mr Guterres pointed out that as much as 50 per cent of India’s coal plants are set to be uncompetitive by the end of this year, rising to 85 per cent by 2025, as markets increasingly turn towards cleaner and cheaper forms of energy.
“This is why the world’s largest investors are increasingly abandoning coal,” he said.
“They see the writing on the wall. It spells stranded assets and makes no commercial sense. The coal business is going up in smoke.”
The UN chief has long called on nations to halt their subsidies for fossil fuels and to stop building coal-fired power stations, but this speech marked some of the clearest direct calls so far for India, the world’s fifth largest economy, to back away from high carbon energy.
“Renewable energy needs to grow, and coal use must be phased out,” Mr Guterres said.
“This is the time for bold leadership on clean energy and climate action. I call on India to be at the helm of the ambitious leadership we need.”
As many as 64 million Indians still have no access to electricity, but Mr Guterres argued renewables, particularly solar, offered a “recipe” for solving the twin challenges of energy access and poverty alleviation in the country, highlighting the plummeting costs and job creation benefits of green energy.
“Clean energy and closing the energy access gap are good business,” Mr Guterres said.
“They are the ticket to growth and prosperity. Yet, here in India, subsidies for fossil fuels are still some seven times more than subsidies for clean energy.
“Continued support for fossil fuels in so many places around the world is deeply troubling.”
However, Mr Guterres also broadened his demands for all governments to step up their climate efforts, highlighting his increasing concerns over research showing twice as much COVID-19 recovery money has been spent on fossil fuels than clean energy by G20 countries, an approach he said would “only lead to further economic contraction and damaging health consequences”.
“I have asked all G20 countries, including India, to invest in a clean, green transition as they recover from the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
“This means ending fossil fuel subsidies, placing a price on carbon pollution and committing to no new coal after 2020.”
The UN chief’s comments came as more than 20 CEOs from leading companies in India signed a ‘call to action’ open letter urging businesses to prioritise a green recovery from the pandemic, by investing in green manufacturing, renewable power, green hydrogen, and EV adoption.
Spearheaded by green NGO the We Mean Business Coalition and Indian think tank TERI, the letter includes signatories from leading firms such as Amplus Energy, Dalmia Cement, Delhi International Airport, Flipkart India, Tata Steel and Tata Chemicals.
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