India pledges new climate crisis goal: Net zero by 2070

As part of a five-point action plan, Indian government has announced that the country will reach carbon neutrality by 2070.

Context

As part of a five-point action plan, Indian government has announced that the country will reach carbon neutrality by 2070.

Net Zero refers to a balance where emissions of greenhouse gases are offset by the absorption of an equivalent amount from the atmosphere.
It is seen as a critical measure to successfully tackle climate change and its devastating consequences.

India will increase its non-fossil energy capacity to 550GW by 2030.
India will meet 50% of its energy requirement from renewable energy by 2030.
India will reduce the total projected carbon emissions by one billion tones from now to 2030.
India will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by 45% (from a previous target of 35%).

India has the lowest per capita emissions of the world’s major economies -- emitting 5% of the total, despite accounting for 17% of the world’s population.
In absolute terms, India is the fourth largest carbon emitter after China and the United States.
China has pledged to turn carbon neutral by 2060 while the US and the European Union – as a block, EU nations together account for the third largest volume of emissions – aim to do so by 2050.
India hasn’t submitted an updated nationally determined contribution (NDCs) with these commitments to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) yet.