staina ilit and limate han e ndia and he           orld     19.3
     the launching of the historic International Solar                     for China, India, the EU and the USA,
     Alliance (an initiative taken by India) and the                       more so for China and India, followed
     submission of the ambitious INDC (Intended                            by the manufacturing industry for India
     Nationally Determined Contribution).                                  and China and the transport sector for
                                                                           the US and the EU. These compositional
        Global EmIssIons                                                   patterns reflect the different priorities of
                                                                           these countries.
     As per the WMO (World Meteorological
     Organization), 2016 was the warmest year, with
     temperature 1°C above the pre-industrial era.                  sustaInablE dEvElopmEnt Goals
     This was owing to El Nino and warming caused                   (sdGs)
     by greenhouse gases (GHGs). Anthropogenic
                                                                 The UN General Assembly in its 17th session
     emissions have been increasing at an unprecedented
                                                                 in September 2015 announced a set of 17 SDGs
     rate since the industrial revolution. According
                                                                 (Sustainable Development Goals) and 169 targets
     to an IEA (International Energy Agency) report
     2015, concentration of CO2 in 2014 was 40 per               which will stimulate action over the next 15
     cent higher than in the mid-1800s. The energy               years. This set of goals replaces the Millennium
     sector is the largest contributor to GHG emissions          Development Goals (MDGs) which were coming
     and, within this, CO2 emissions from combustion             to an end in 2015 and will try to work in the areas
     of fuels have the largest share. The global emissions       which could not be completed earlier.
     profile2 shows that emissions have been distributed               The SDGs were adopted after one of the largest
     very unequally among different countries:                   consultation exercises in UN history. The goals
           (i) If historical CO2 emissions from 1970 to          were proposed in the United Nations Conference
                2014 are considered, India with 39.0 Gt          on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in June
                is way behind the top three emitters—the         2012. The SDGs will be effective between 2016–
                USA (232 Gt), the EU (190.2 Gt) and              2030. Major highlights of the SDGs are as given
                China (176.2 Gt). USA’s emissions, for           below:
                example, were around six times India’s.                (i) poverty eradication;
          (ii) Even if historical levels are discounted               (ii) combating inequalities;
                and only present levels considered, both
                                                                     (iii) promoting gender equality, women and
                in terms of absolute and per capita
                                                                           girl empowerment;
                emissions, India is way behind the three
                major CO2 emitters. Per capita emissions             (iv) improving health and education;
                for USA, EU, China and India are—17                   (v) making cities more sustainable;
                ton/capita, 7.5 ton/capita, 7 ton/capita             (vi) combating climate change;
                and 2 ton/capita, respectively.                     (vii) protecting oceans and forests;
         (iii) In terms of sectoral CO2 emissions from             (viii) integrating the socio-economic and
                fuel combustion, electricity and heat                      environmental dimensions;
                production was the largest contributor
                                                                     (ix) global partnership for sustainable
        2.    PBL, Trends in Global CO2 Emissions 2015 Report,             development;
              Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, as
              quoted by the Economic Survey 2015–16, Vol. 2 (New      (x) enhancing capacities of stakeholders in
              Delhi: Government of India, 2016), pp. 177–178.              better quality measurement;