What Does an Alliance to End Oil and Gas Mean for India?

The below paragraphs are from an op-ed published by The Economic Times website on December 3, 2021, and are reprinted with permission.

On November 11, at the recently concluded UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow, the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA) was launched: a diplomatic initiative led by Denmark and Costa Rica to bring together ambitious governments committed to phasing out oil and gas production. In the aftermath of COP 26, India has been singled out for its resistance to international pressure on coal. But what stance would India adopt on the new oil and gas focused alliance?

To answer this question, we first need to understand why BOGA was created, and what it aims to do. The alliance is driven by the scientific consensus that there is no room left for fossil fuel expansion. This was a central focus of the Production Gap report, co-sponsored by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), which found that countries plan to produce 120% more fossil fuels by 2030 than would be consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C. Similarly, IEA analysis has highlighted that no new development of fossil fuels is possible if we are to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Read the full op-ed at The Economic Times website.