Two articles in the Business-Standard today alerted me to the climate change issue in India. India has been slow in acknowledging the growing consensus in the world for human induced climate change. However, both India and China needs to deal with this issue.
As the article, Climate Warnings suggest, India has been late in reacting to this entire issue. The Finance Minister, Mr. P Chidambaram, in his recent budget speech highlighted that “India is neither a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, nor will it be so in the foreseeable future.” and suggested that a expert panel will be set up.
He is right about the past but in the coming years India will be a large emitter. Due to the population of India as a percentage of the world, India does have a responsibility in this global issue.
India needs to see this as an opportunity.
Subir Roy suggests the opportunities in dealing with climate change around the well known gains from achieving energy efficiency, per capita energy reduction, less reliance on imports. In the end, resource reduction is good for the scarce economic resources that India possess and for the world in dealing with climate change.
Climate Warnings points to the increasing Clean Development Mechanism deals that Indian companies are participating in.
Of the total 633 projects registered with the CDM Executive Board of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as many as 220—34.75 per cent—are from India. Notably, the bulk of these projects belong to the categories of energy efficiency and renewable energy, reflecting emphasis on the clean development mechanism (CDM).
India needs to work towards developing its economy and solving the poverty issue. This should be the main goal. However, atleast by 2012 when the Kyoto protocol ends, there will be a huge effort to convince India in accepting a target for emissions.
The leadership of India and the committee may decide on the best way forward for India however, it is important to participate the global dialogue so as to ensure India’s opinions and voice is heard. India has not been doing this till now. Participation does not mean accepting the cut in emissions equal to the developed countries. It means making a case for exemption or a reduction in the target, if that is what India wants. For me, a committee on climate change in India sounds like a synonym for non-action.
Climate Warnings says:
Unless India is well-prepared with documentary evidence to present its case for continuation of emission reduction holiday, it will be caught on the wrong foot, as happened in the case of tariff reductions under the new global trade agreement, patenting norms under the trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPs) for industrial products, and protection of plant genetic resources under geographical indications and other protocols. Each time, the country had to take post-accord protective action after the global norms had already been laid down.
India’s reaction has been late even though the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) chairman is R K Pachauri from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in India.
India needs to manage this issue better in order to adapt to the climate change risks and act on the opportunities available in a carbon-constrained world.
