Change on climate: India ready to quantify cuts

New Delhi is,however,reiterating that the emissions reduction would not take the form of legally-binding targets,nor would it be imposed by any outside power. And it would,of course,not be at the cost of India’s development priorities.

Rather,the emission cuts will be a result of a series of steps that the country has already initiated,or proposes to take,in the near future to improve its energy efficiency and shift to a more renewable energy-based economy.

“We are already taking a number of actions that will result in significant reductions of our greenhouse gas emissions. We are in a position to quantify these reductions into a broadly indicative number that can be shared with the rest of the world. I see no problem with that,” Environment minister Jairam Ramesh told The Indian Express.

The assertion is at variance with India’s long-held stand that its responsibility on fighting climate change was limited to adaptation. Mitigation,if any,had to be supported by international finance and enabled by transfer of technology from developed countries as laid out in the Bali Action Plan.

Mitigation,as a result of actions being taken under the National Action Plan on Climate Change,or other initiatives like getting automobiles to adhere to mandatory fuel-efficiency norms,was not meant to be quantified,and certainly not meant to be discussed at any international forum.

Jairam conceded there is now a shift in India’s stand. It is aimed at calling the bluff of the developed world,he said. “Yes,there is a nuanced shift. But this shift is not in our negotiating stand. That stand remains the same. We are not going to accept any legally binding commitments on reducing carbon emissions. We will not allow the dilution of the per-capita principle. There can be no compromises on these. The shift is in the atmospherics around the negotiations. For long,this canard is being spread that India has been holding up an agreement… that India is not pro-active on climate change. This should be able to nail those lies,” he said.

Jairam listed the positive policy interventions that India had made,or was in the process of making,that would result in emission cuts. These include increasing the proportion of renewables in the country’s energy mix,introducing fuel efficiency standards,reducing energy intensity and bringing in a new building code.

“If we add the benefits accruing out of these,it will completely demolish the myth that India is doing nothing to reduce its emissions. India,which has no historical liability in polluting the atmosphere and has no commitment to reduce its emissions,is doing much more than the countries who are responsible for the present mess and bound by international law to take targeted emission cuts,” he said.

The minister said this shift in stance had the complete backing of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He described the new position as “per-capita plus”,referring to the per capita argument that is at the heart of India’s policy on climate change. India would be willing to discuss its position at the upcoming meeting during the UN General Assembly session later this month,Jairam said.