Greenpeace welcomes India's ambitious solar energy plan

Greenpeace has welcomed the Indian government's ambitious solar energy plan - the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), which was released on Monday, ahead of the climate summit at Copenhagen.

Greenpeace has welcomed the Indian government's ambitious solar energy plan - the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), which was released on Monday, ahead of the climate summit at Copenhagen.

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Sidddharth Pathak, climate and energy policy officer from Greenpeace India, said: "We welcome the formulation of the JNNSM from vision to action". He added that the plan "underlines the government's intention to give a boost to solar energy and is a purposeful step by India towards climate change mitigation".

The Solar Mission forms a part of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and has an ambitious target of achieving 20,000 MW solar power by 2022.

Greenpeace said that according to its analysis, the JNNSM plan could ensure an annual reduction of 434 million tonnes of CO2 emissions every year by 2050 based on the assumption that solar energy will replace fossil fuels, a statement said.

Pathak said that the JNNSM will "put pressure on the developed countries to act and commit their ambitious GHG emission reduction targets at Copenhagen".

However, he cautioned, the JNNSM does not contain details on several factors, including the financing of the solar plan. "The document lacks specific details on the sources of finance, which is critical to a successful implementation," he said.

If India delivers on the JNNSM, further supportive action from developed countries could ensure a huge uptake in renewable energy, create jobs, trigger high technology diffusion, and help with poverty alleviation in the country while contributing to the fight against climate change.

"India has put its unilateral plan on the table. If developed countries meet their obligation of providing finance under the climate negotiations, India could further build on the JNNSM and boost its action on climate change", opined Pathak.