Climate change: Such a domestic matter

My concern arises from the nature and content of the international dialogue. America is refusing to be bound by global targets on carbon emissions. They say that such targets would have limited impact if India and China refuse to accept them. This is because both countries are potentially the largest emitters of carbon and there would be no purpose in participating in a protocol that lacks teeth from the outset. India and China have responded in like measure. They have made clear that America’s stand is self-serving and even immoral. It is because of America (and the developed world) that the world is confronting the current problem. It is because of their pattern of growth that carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have increased from 280 ppm at the time of the industrial revolution to around 400-450 ppm today. Why should the now industrialising world bear the burden of someone else’s extravagance? The polluter must pay and the West should offer a compensatory package of financial and technical support to the rest of the world. India and China have also pointed out that despite their rapid economic growth their per capita emission of carbon is still but a fraction of the emissions from the West.

The question arises: will this debate at the international level dilute domestic efforts to contain carbon emissions? Will the fact that growth (or rather the limitations on growth) is the peg on which India is hanging its objections at the international level sidetrack it from taking appropriate domestic measures to weaken the link between economic growth and atmospheric pollution? Is it conceivable that in the noise of multilateralism India will lose sight of the fact that growth and carbon mitigation are positively correlated; that while growth has no doubt contributed to pollution — emissions in China and India have in absolute terms grown 5 times faster than the US since 1990 and this trend is not decelerating — it is the condition precedent for building the financial resources, the technologies, the infrastructure and indeed the political will to redeem its consequences.

... contd.