~ Workshop Supported by Departments of Industries and Mines, Climate Change, Forests and Environment, Government of Gujarat
~ International experts from France, Indonesia, Mexico and Australia chaired sessions on various aspects impacting Gujarat’s current status and progress towards meeting NDC targets
 

November 01, 2023: The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) and the IDDRI organised a day-long stakeholder engagement workshop on ‘Sustainable Decarbonisation Pathways for Gujarat’, with the support of the Industries & Mines Department, Climate Change Department and Forests & Environment Department, Government of Gujarat, here today. 

The workshop brought together a diverse group of stakeholders including international climate experts from G20 member countries such as France, Australia, Mexico and Indonesia, top officials from the state government, industry, academia, to share their perspectives and insights on the way forward for Gujarat in meeting Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) targets. 

Ms Marta Torres Gunfaus from IDDRI; Ms Meg Argyriou who is an independent strategic advisor Dr. Daniel Buira from Tempus Analitica, and Prof. Rizali Boer from Bogor Agriculture University participated in the event as representatives of G20 member countries France, Australia, Mexico, and Indonesia, respectively. 

These international experts are actively involved in the upcoming COP28 that will be held in UAE later this year and work very closely with their governments and have networks that predominantly cover countries from the global South. They work together in an international network, predominantly in countries from the global South. Their participation is an amalgamation of global North with global South. 

The workshop was organised with the objective of facilitating discussions on current trends and elicit feedback from key stakeholders to enhance the understanding of the implications and opportunities emerging from Government of India’s Net Zero and NDC commitments for Gujarat. The event also aimed to promote an open and meaningful deliberations between policymakers, industry leaders and researchers on the following:
 

•    Gujarat's status and progress towards meeting NDC targets
•    The implications and opportunities for Gujarat emerging from Government of India’s Net Zero commitments
•    The key policy interventions and actions required to accelerate Gujarat's transition to a low-carbon and resilient economy
•    The role of stakeholders in supporting Gujarat's Net Zero and NDC journey
 

The inaugural session was led by IIMA faculty member, Professor Amit Garg and Ms Marta Torres Gunfaus, IDDRI Paris who set the Gujarat and global context for the discussions that were to follow during the day. 

Setting the tone for the event, Professor Amit Garg said, “Gujarat is at the forefront in initiating and implementing policies for renewable energy, electric vehicles, sustainable building space, enhancing energy efficiency, and green hydrogen.  However, the state’s transition towards deep decarbonisation and Net Zero 2070 requires low-cost financing and international investments.”

Highlighting the importance of achieving climate goals, Ms Marta Torres Gunfaus, Senior Researcher, IDDRI, said, “Achieving the climate goals of the Paris Agreement can boost our economies and create net new jobs. However, to capitalize these opportunities, countries, States, cities and companies must consider climate goals at the design and planning stages - investors, banks and insurers are demanding credible and coherent plans for the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient future. I believe Gujarat has a competitive advantage if it crystallizes a first-of-its-kind State-level net zero long-term strategy.”

Gujarat has been experiencing significant climate change impacts such as rise in temperature, rise in sea level, change in precipitation patterns, etc. Increase in temperatures gives rise to heatwaves and affects agriculture yields, while altered monsoon patterns can disrupt water availability and significantly impact crop yields. Gujarat has a 1600 km long coastal region which is vulnerable to risk of flooding and coastal erosion due to rise in sea level. These climate change related impacts necessitate to work towards various sustainable measures such as, accelerating clean energy transitions, enabling sustainable decarbonisation pathways for hard to abate sector, shift towards LiFE mission and circular economy, taking appropriate adaptation measures for reducing climate change impacts, and need for climate finance for low-carbon energy transitions. 

Being a leading industrialized state of India, Gujarat must contribute appreciably to meet the NDC as well as Net Zero targets set up by India and can turn these commitments into concrete economic opportunities. This would require aligning and dovetailing various policies such as policies leading to climate change mitigations, adaptation, and resilience, promoting clean energy policies, policies that lead to the transformation of the energy system, the decarbonisation of hard to abate sectors, developing policies that lead to circular economy, policies for ensuring that these transformations result in socially-robust transitions, creating awareness to shift towards LiFE mission, etc. in short term (till 2030), medium term (2031-2047) and the long-term (2048-2070).

The inaugural event was followed by a series of sessions where the international experts chaired sessions on Accelerating clean energy transition, Technical and financial challenges involved in decarbonisation, Assessing opportunities for Impact, Vulnerability, Adaptation and Climate Resilience.