new delhi on a day when un secretary general antonio guterres made a fresh appeal to countries to raise climate action ambitions at a roundtable in new york a coalition of six indian companies on thursday signed up an industry charter for near zero emissions by 2050the companies tata consulting engineers hindalco dalmia cement thermax siemens energy india and shell group of companies india voluntarily committed to reach the near zero emissions goal through multiple decarbonisation measuresfacilitated by new delhibased energy and environment thinktank teri the charter signatories unanimously expressed the intent to make their companies exemplars of low or zero carbon technology solutions within their sectors and gradually bring more heavy industry sectors into their foldthe charter was signed in a virtual event at the ongoing climate week nyc which is being held alongside the un general assembly session as part of efforts by nonstate actors businesses local governments and cities to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 to save the world from disastrous consequences of climate changeactions taken now will determine the outcome of near zero emissions by 2050 after our assessments for the electricity sector transition in india we are excited to take forward the industry transition agenda said ajay mathur director general terihe said this charter is an important step from indian industry to voluntarily commit itself to decarbonisation measures and work together in key thematic areas that can make a zero carbon future a reality for indiateri will serve as the secretariat of this industry coalition as founding signatories of the charter these industries committed to enhancing energy efficiency renewable energy and circular economy across membercompanies and supply chainssupporting the transition of indias paris agreement commitment of carbon intensity reduction these industries will undertake carbon sequestration efforts if needed and set reporting indicators and targets to enable tracking of corporate goals on the decarbonisation pathwaythough the number of local governments and businesses pursuing net zero emissions target has grown significantly in the past one year it wont bring desired results unless national governments in the us china eu and india raise their climate action targetschinas announcement at un general assembly to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060 has raised some hope but the fate of the global goal will depend on the outcome of the us presidential election later this year as the country under donald trump has already eroded the gain what it had achieved under eightyear tenure of barack obama due to climate change denial approach of the republicanscalling for every government business civil and international organization in the world to develop a transition plan to netzero emissions and boost ambition in finance and adaption as an equal priority to cutting emissions the un secretary general on thursday said carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and forest fires reached an alltime high in 2019 and are 62 per cent higher than in 1990 we must urgently reverse coursethat is why i am asking all leaders governments businesses financiers civil society and youth