Question : India Cooling Action Plan

(a) whether the Government has released the India Cooling Action Plan recently;
(b) if so, the details thereof along with its objectives, targets and timeline;
(c) whether the Ministry is coordinating with other Ministries/State Governments for better implementation of the plan and if so, the details thereof;
(d) whether the Government has taken steps to reduce the average consumption of per capita cooling space and if so, the details thereof;
(e) the action plan of the Government to reduce the use of traditional cooling system like air conditioner and refrigerator; and
(f) the other steps taken by the Government to reduce carbon emission in the country?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)

(a) to (e): The India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) was launched on 8th March, 2019. The ICAP has long term vision with a 20 year time horizon and lists out actions which can inter alia help reduce cooling demand. Besides refrigerant based space cooling technologies such as air conditioners, the ICAP provides for use of non-refrigerant based technologies such as fans and coolers and not-in-kind technologies such as district cooling.

The India Cooling Action seeks to (i) reduce cooling demand across sectors by 20% to 25% by 2037-38, (ii) reduce refrigerant demand by 25% to 30% by 2037-38, (iii) Reduce cooling energy requirements by 25% to 40% by 2037-38, (iv) recognize “cooling and related areas” as a thrust area of research under national S&T Programme, (v) training and certification of 100,000 servicing sector technicians by 2022-23, synergizing with Skill India Mission. The Ministry has constituted a Steering Committee and six thematic working groups having representatives from other Ministries of Government of India / State Governments for better implementation of the ICAP.

(f): Government of India is implementing National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) which provides the overarching framework for actions regarding climate change mitigation and adaptation. NAPCC comprises of missions in specific areas of solar energy, energy efficiency, water, agriculture, Himalayan eco-system, sustainable habitat, green India and strategic knowledge on climate change. Climate actions at the state level are also guided by the State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCC). Thirty-three States/Union Territories have prepared their SAPCC in line with NAPCC taking into account State’s specific issues relating to climate change. These SAPCCs inter-alia outline sector specific and cross sectoral priority climate actions. In the pre-2020 period, India announced its voluntary goal to reduce the emission intensity of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 20-25 per cent from 2005 levels by 2020. According to the second Biennial Update Report submitted by Government of India to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2018, India has achieved 21 per cent reduction in emission intensity between 2005 and 2014. For the post-2020 period under the Paris Agreement, India has submitted its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) including, inter alia, goals (i) to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 percent by 2030 from 2005 level, (ii) to achieve about 40 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030 with the help of transfer of technology and low cost international finance including from Green Climate Fund (GCF), (iii) to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.

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