Big economies aim for net-zero emissions but India cannot afford to yet

The South Asian country has a tiny carbon footprint per person, but it can still still help in the green transition.

Economies accounting for more than half the world’s gross domestic product have now set, or are in the process of setting, goals to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions within decades.

The US, India and Brazil are the only countries among the 10 largest economies still holding out. With Joe Biden set to become president, the US stance is likely to change. How will India, which continues to rely heavily on domestic coal and imported oil, react to such pressure? (Let’s keep Brazil for another day.)

“India has to push back against it,” said Thomas Spencer, a researcher at