Just Transition in South Asia: Role of the Big Economies

The people of the Global South are waiting for a concrete decision to end excessive emissions to achieve the 1.5-degree goal by 2050, as committed to in the Paris Agreement. The very existence of human beings and other species depends upon that decision and actions to be taken accordingly. According to the latest report, 83% of the carbon budget has already been spent, and there is a 50:50 chance to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement if 2030 is taken as the peak year (Friedlingstein et al. (2023).

To this end, our demands are:

1. Adopt an ambitious target to generate at least 60% of the global demand for electricity from renewable sources.

2. Declare a cut-off date for using coal, gas, and petroleum in the power sector, irrespective of whether abated or unabated.

3. Stop financing LNG as a transition fuel. LNG's life-cycle emissions are dangerous, like those of coal. They are also weighing down the economies of South Asian countries.

4. Support South Asian countries in building national RE institutions and production systems with modern RE technologies.

5. Finance for community-owned distributed RE system, which can ensure energy sovereignty and national economic stability.

6. Ensure the human and environmental rights of the local people in the energy transition.

7. Stop promoting false solutions like Hydrogen, ammonia, and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies.