Context: Recently, Union Minister of New & Renewable Energy and Power speaking at the Global RE-INVEST 2020 event said that Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep have been given targets to become totally green that means their energy needs should be met from renewable energy.
Key Points

• India has prioritised to have its Islands fully on green energy Islands.  Islands (Andaman & Nicobar Isalands, Lakshadweep) to become totally green, that means their energy needs should be met from Renewable Energy. 

Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources, which are naturally replenished on a human timescale, including carbon neutral sources like sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat. 

• The term often also encompasses biomass as well, whose carbon neutral status is under debate.

India as one of very few countries to have met its commitment of keeping climate change within 2%.

• India has installed about 136000mw of RE capacity with capacity addition of another 57000mw under implementation. Target is now to achieve 450GW or 4,50,000mw RE capacity by 2030. 
• This realisation has dawned on everybody that we need to reduce our carbon footprints to preserve the planet. 

The sentiments that Island States/territories are more vulnerable to global warming. Since 2013, the Government of Maldives has been proactively pursuing renewable energy goals that support strengthening the ecology, as well as the economy. 

• Starting with the Maldives Energy Policy and Strategy 2016 (the “2016 Energy Policy”) that seeks to promote renewable energy in the country and encourage private sector renewable energy development as one of its nine key policies, all the way to the recent National Strategic Action Plan for the Maldives (2019-2023) (SAP), which includes a specific pillar for Clean Energy with renewable energy targets to increase the share of renewable energy by 20 percent by 2023. 
• The opportunity for scaling up renewable energy across the Maldives is immense as it can provide the government budgetary relief by saving millions of dollars each year, that is currently used for diesel imports and subsidy. 
• The signing of the 5 MW PPA under the World Bank Accelerating Sustainable Private Investments in Renewable Energy (ASPIRE) project is a historic moment in the renewable energy history of the Maldives. 
• The project is the first of its kind in scale for the Maldives and achieved a tariff of US$ 10.9 cents. 
• This is one of the lowest tariffs for a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) like the Maldives and helps them gain the pole position in trying to achieve their RE goals. 
• Moving ahead, the World Bank is working closely alongside the Government of Maldives through the upcoming Accelerating Renewable Energy Integration and Sustainable Energy (ARISE) project in achieving their dream for a fossil fuel free future.

Also Read: https://abhipedia.abhimanu.com/Article/IAS/MjExNjI3/Aboriginal-Tribes-of-Andaman-and-Nicobar-Social-Issues-IAS