India, March 31 -- If a week is a long time in politics, a four-week war is an eternity in geopolitics. Making long-term climate policy in the midst of great uncertainty in global energy markets from the conflict in West Asia is fraught with challenges. It is in this context that India's updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for 2031-2035 should be evaluated.

India has committed to reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by 47% by 2035 from the 2005 level (up from the 2030 target of 45%), achieving 60% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2035 (a 10% increase), and creating a carbon sink of 3.5-4 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through forest and tree cover by 2035 (a...