India's Intended Nationally Determined Contribution

India's Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) observes that India is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, with its vast population that is dependent on the growth of its agrarian economy, its expansive coastal areas, and the Himalayan region and islands. It also entails tradeoffs with economic growth and social development in the short run that needs to be factored in the policy matrix, where eradication of poverty is one of the foremost priorities. India thus communicated the following commitments in its INDC: 

1. To put forward and further propagate a healthy and sustainable way of living based on traditions and values of conservation and moderation; 
2. To adopt a climate-friendly and a cleaner path than the one followed hitherto by others at corresponding level of economic development; 
3. To reduce the emission intensity of its gross domestic product by 33 to 35% by 2030 from 2005 level; 
4. To achieve about 40% 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; 
5. To create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030; 
6. To better adapt to climate change by enhancing investments in development programmes in sectors vulnerable to climate change, particularly agriculture, water resources, Himalayan region, coastal regions, health and disaster management; 
7. To mobilize domestic and new and additional funds from developed countries to implement the above mitigation and adaptation actions in view of the resource required and the resource gap; 
8. To build capacities, create domestic framework and international architecture for quick diffusion of cutting edge climate technology in India and for joint collaborative R&D for such future technologies.