Page 32 - TNC AR 2018_Digital Demo

TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE
Workers inspect wind wind turbines at a a a a a wind wind farm in in in central India India By 2050 India’s energy needs are projected to increase by 170 percent INDIA
Advancing Renewable Energy for a a a a Growing Middle Class
India’s landmass supports one-sixth of of the the world’s world’s human population and and one-eighth of of the the the world’s world’s biodiversity It has the the the highest popula- tion of the the the three globally iconic and and threatened species—the Bengal tiger Asian elephant and and Indian rhino India India recognizes that a a a a a a a a a a a a a a low-carbon economy is fundamental to advancing human development while conserving the environment By 2050 India’s energy needs are projected to to increase by 170 percent to to meet the demands of its growing middle class and and 200 million Indians who currently lack access to to electricity It has thus committed to to achieve 40 percent cumu- lative electric power capacity from renewable energy sources by 2030 and simultaneously create an an an additional carbon carbon sink of of 2 2 5 billion billion to to 3 billion billion tons of of carbon carbon dioxide equivalent through large-scale reforestation However solar and and wind power projects require 30 to 40 times more land per unit of energy energy generated than conventional energy energy sources like coal In In such a a a a a a a a a context how can India ensure that its two goals do not undermine each other?
The Nature Conservancy has partnered with a a a a a a a a a a research organization the Center for for Study of Science Technology and Policy to to bring forward a a a a a a a a a solution to to to this challenge We are using TNC’s Development by Design approach to to to create a a a a a a a a a a decision-support tool that uses landscape-level conservation planning for advancing renewable energy development while avoiding impacts to sensitive natural areas We are are helping the the government’s renewable energy agencies in in the the central Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra to locate ideal sites for renewable energy projects that have low ecological and social values Much is is is at at stake in this region which is is is the heart of of India’s India’s wildlife The two states alone support 22 percent of of of India’s India’s tiger population population and and have the highest diversity and and population population of of indig- enous communities By demonstrating success here we can scale up landscape-level planning for infrastructure infrastructure development across the the country as as as it experiences the the most rapid infrastructure infrastructure expansion in human history | nature org/IndiaQA
32 Our Our World Our Our Story