India’s largest renewable energy company, ReNew Power and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) have signed a partnership agreement to promote increased access to renewable energy and improved energy efficiency.

What will be the benefit of this agreement?

The collaboration will see the implementation of renewable energy installations across India with the aim of shifting the current heating and cooling technologies to more energy-efficient applications. The strengthened partnership focuses on improving energy efficiency as part of the progressive strategies that India has adopted to realize its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) under the Paris Agreement.

Why is renewable energy important?

Renewable sources constitute about 23.6% of the total installed capacity in India. The country had a target of 175 GW of renewables capacity by 2022, and at the UN Climate Action Summit in September 2019, the Prime Minister announced an increase in the target to 450 GW. Vaishali Nigam Sinha, Chief Officer, Sustainability at Renew Power, said that the company always had the ambition and confidence to work beyond its normal business and continue to engage with stakeholders on issues affecting various communities across the country. “Through cooperation with the United Nations Environment Program, we want to work on issues that have the potential to accelerate development and bring socio-economic changes in the field of clean energy for the environment,” she said.

Role of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. UNEP’s work encompasses: assessing global, regional and national environmental conditions and trends, developing international and national environmental instruments and strengthening institutions for the wise management of the environment.