BANGALORE, India — Greenpeace, today, applauded the Indian Government at the current round of climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany for taking a bold step with the solar mission plan in its fight against climate change(1). The Indian Solar mission document which has been leaked to the media (2) if implemented, can move India towards a low carbon growth path that is sustainable.
India's Solar mission plan if implemented would benefit millions of Kalavatis across the coutry by creating clean jobs, triggering high technology diffusion, and help with poverty alleviation in the country. It would also contribute to the fight against climate change and its impacts.
"The solar mission document that is floating around appears to
be an ambitious and aggressive plan for mass dispersal of renewable
energy technology in the country. Dr Manmohan Singh should make the
mission public and ensure that the final mission document keeps the
spirit and targets in the draft. This will secure India's position
as leader in solar technology- the energy technology of the
future." said Siddharth Pathak, Climate & Energy campaigner
Greenpeace, from the UN Climate negotiations at Bonn, Germany.
The solar mission if implemented will ensure a good position for
India, domestically as well as internationally. A huge uptake in
solar will create jobs, trigger high technology diffusion, help
with poverty alleviation in the country and also contribute to the
fight against climate change. An analysis done by Greenpeace shows
that this draft plan will ensure an annual reduction of 434 million
tons of CO2 emissions every year by 2050 based on the assumption
that solar will replace fossil fuels.
This is immense and crucial to India since it has a lot to lose
from the effects that climate change will have on its land and
people. Even the changing monsoons which are the climate tipping
point, will have far reaching social and economic impacts.
Greenpeace highlighted this yesterday by releasing a report on the
impacts of climate change on the monsoon. (3)
"The solar mission exists on paper and is not an official
government position. There are still gaps in the draft document on
clear regulatory mechanisms and strong institutions. The government
should look into this aspect for the final mission document to be
robust." said Vinuta Gopal, Climate & Energy campaigner,
Greenpeace.
The implementation of the solar mission requires a strong
regulatory framework, and sufficient finance. "We urge the Indian
government to immediately release this mission along with the seven
others as mentioned in the climate action plan. It has to be
declared as a high priority governmental policy and implemented
right away. A first immediate step should be to pass a progressive
RE-law, which supports the proposed solar mission with a
feed-in-tariff system." she added.
In Bonn, Greenpeace also called upon the industrialized
countries to stop delaying recognition of needs for technology and
finance of the developing countries. "To fulfill the solar mission,
India needs international technological support. Industrialized
countries need to come up with concrete proposal on technology and
finance to support developing countries" said Siddharth.
For further information, contact
In India
Vinuta Gopal, Climate and Energy Campaigner, Greenpeace India; +919845535418; 
Vasudha Mehta, Greenpeace Communications, +91 99589 80909;
;
In Bonn, Germany
Siddharth Pathak, Climate and Energy Campaigner, Greenpeace India; +4917618621228; +919902883738; 
Notes to Editor
(1) The international Press Release that was sent to the International Media today (including the European Union) is available at http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/releases/indian-solar-energy-plan-050609
(2) The draft solar mission document is part of the eight mission documents under India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change which is a significant contribution to low carbon sustainable development strategy for the Indian economy. The draft document outlines plans for a national target of 20 Gigawatts of solar generation capacity by 2020 and also plans to deliver on the creation of 100 000 new jobs through the course of the plan. - http://www.greenpeace.org/international/indian-solar-plan.
(3) Monsoon report - The Greenpeace paper, a compilation of current climate science on the Indian monsoon, concludes that climate change could bring about significant change to the intensity, geographic distribution and inter seasonal breaks in the monsoon, which would have enormous social consequences.– http://www.greenpeace.org/india/press/reports/monsoon-wager