India becoming Net Zero is non-negotiable: Expert

Panaji: Radical emission reductions, removal of residual emissions, and a time-bound commitment to achieving these targets is the way to becoming Net Zero, said speakers at the International Net Zero Summit 2026 on Thursday.“This is something non-negotiable, which the countries, corporates, and institutions have to go for. It basically means they have got to shift to renewable energies, improve energy efficiency, and decarbonise transport and other industries,” said Colonel Prakash Tewari, member of the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) within India’s ministry of environment, forest and climate change.“Some of these emissions are currently unavoidable, such as aviation, cement, or steel.

These are the ones which have to be balanced by nature-based solutions in terms of forests, mangroves, wetlands, and soil carbon, and by laying certain conditions to the EAC on what we are doing. Although we are not doing it project-wise, we are trying to do it sector-wise,” Tewari said.Speakers at the International Net Zero Summit 2026 on Thursday stressed that achieving net zero emissions is not just a technological or financial challenge, but also an institutional and human one.

Bhaskar Chatterjee, known as the Father of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in India, said that there are only six countries that achieved Net Zero targets—Suriname, Bhutan, Comoros, Gabon, Niue, and Panama. “Two Net Zero countries are actually regressing. Madagascar, for example, is cutting down its forests. Guyana discovered oil beneath its surface and effectively reversed course; forget moving forward,” he said.President of the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Srinivas Dempo, said, “Net Zero is a challenge, yet it’s a responsibility, because we owe it to our future generations. We were such a great sustainable society in India, but we moved from big houses to concrete houses and air conditioners aimed at the Western world, and now we are in a situation where we are asked by the Western world to abide by deadlines. So be it.

We need to move beyond it now and see that we achieve our targets.”