Countries can scale-up low-carbon investment and finance as they work to reach net-zero emissions to help combat climate change.
Deloitte India Executive Director Amrita Ganguly said there has to be regulatory frameworks which incentivize these sustainable practices, and financial incentives for low-carbon initiatives.
“And also some kind of government incentive should be there so that the companies are encouraged to put in money in such long-term investments which may not immediately bear fruit,” she said in a webinar on the key content of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization’s (UNIDO) Learning and Knowledge Development Facility (LKDF) sustainability curricula.
Ganguly said market instruments like green bonds can be used to finance this kind of clean technologies.
She also cited the key pillars of net zero transition, including energy efficiency and carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), and eco industrial parks (EIPs).
“One main pillar is energy efficiency which is often called as the ‘first fuel’ in clean energy transitions and it is possibly a very low-hanging fruit. It offers a very cost-effective and swift method of carbon dioxide mitigation, it lowers energy bills and improves energy security,” Ganguly said.
CCUS, on the other hand, captures carbon dioxide (CO2) from large point sources of emission like power generation or industrial facilities that use either fossil fuels or biomass as fuel, she added.
“And there is also a lot of focus around carbon dioxide, transportation and storage infra(structure) for stakeholders, and hydrogen and biofuel production in industrial hubs in retrofitted coal-fired power plants. Also there is a prediction that there will be a gradual growth in this kind of carbon capture volume over the next five years and possibly in the next 25 years, we will see that a lot of countries are also coming up with policies to support this,” Ganguly said.
Ganguly further said EIPs are industrial areas designed and managed with a focus on environmental sustainability, resource efficiency, and the promotion of a circular economy.
“These parks aim to minimize the environmental impact of industrial activities while enhancing economic performance,” she said.
