“The mission sets off a process which creates sustainable business models and which gives investors the confidence to invest in energy-efficient projects,” India’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency Head Ajay Mathur said.
Benchmarks will be set for each industry sector and companies not meeting the benchmarks will have to buy these certificates under a reward and penalty system. As per government statement, efficiency mission will ensure an annual saving of 5% of India’s total energy consumption and cut about 100 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year from its annual emissions of about 3 billion tonnes now.
“It’s a fairly ambitious beginning,” said K Srinivas, former climate campaigner of Greenpeace India. “We have reached the stage where we are willing to cap and trade. Now they have to ensure sustained implementation.”
The new plan will make things difficult for energy inefficient companies. It will come with a financial support mechanism, including a fund which will provide banks with guarantees for loans to energy-efficiency projects.
A second fund will support investment in the manufacturing of energy-efficient products and provision of energy-efficiency services. The two funds will be supported in the budget of the central government.
Most firms in India are yet to plan for the impact of climate change and do not measure emissions or have deadlines to curb them, according to studies.
