COP27: What Are India's Plans To Decarbonise Trucking, Shipping And Aviation?
India's plans to decarbonise the heavy duty transport segments of aviation, shipping and trucking are still at a nascent stage and new policies are needed to ensure and support their transition to clean energy for India to meet its climate change pledges, according to several studies and climate change policy experts.
In India, the aviation and shipping segments at present account for negligible emissions when compared to trucks, four-wheelers and buses, reflecting their lower use compared to road and rail transport, according to a June 2022 study by New-Delhi-based public policy think-tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water.
Ahead of COP27, which will get under way in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on November 6, we examined how India is planning to decarbonise its heavy duty transport segments, and found that these segments' transition to clean energy is not straightforward.
Freight movement in India has increased 125% between 2005 and 2020, according to CEEW. This growth is largely dominated by freight carried by trucks than by rail and domestic shipping.
In the aviation sector, India is banking on sustainable fuel-powered airlines and increased digitisation in airports, say experts.
In September, Air India, AirAsia India and Vistara airlines signed a memorandum of understanding with the Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research-Indian Institute Of Petroleum, Dehradun to collaborate on research, development and deployment of sustainable aviation fuels.
In January 2022, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways announced an initiative for green ports and green shipping under the Maritime India Vision 2030 to reduce the maritime industry's carbon dioxide emissions.