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| 'India would like to see an equitable outcome at Copenhagen' |
| Vandana Gombar / New Delhi Jun 30, 2009, 01:02 IST |
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India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), whose modalities are yet to be worked out, will play a key role in India’s negotiating strategy at the upcoming Copenhagen Conference. India is looking at commitments on emission reduction by the developed countries as well as financial support for the developing countries to adopt fresh strategies to mitigate the impact of climate change, Prime Minister’s special envoy on climate change Shyam Saran tells Vandana Gombar in an e-mail interview. Excerpts:
Isn’t there a case for moving faster on finalising the nuts and bolts of NAPCC’s eight missions? Given that the action plan is set to mark its first anniversary (June 30), by when do you think India will be ready with an actual action plan to replace the directional document?
Most of the eight National Missions of the national action plan have now been elaborated and the final drafts are ready for submission to the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change. It is true that the exercise of fleshing out the various missions has taken more time than was envisaged earlier.
Has NAPCC strengthened our international negotiating position? What are the advantages it has given us?
NAPCC has demonstrated to the world that India takes the challenge of climate change seriously and has in place a well thought out national strategy to deal with this challenge. It also helps us argue the case that while India is, and will continue to take actions within the limitations of its own resources, a supportive global climate regime is urgently required to help us scale up our efforts.
What does India want out of the Copenhagen Summit?
India would like to see a comprehensive, balanced, and above all, an equitable outcome at Copenhagen. It must be comprehensive in the sense that it must include action on all four pillars of the Bali Action Plan, that is mitigation, adaptation, finance and technology. And finally, technology will be a key determinant of our success in tackling climate change.
What could be a credible wish list?
That developed countries agree to at least a 40 per cent cut in their emissions by 2020 and over 80-90 per cent by 2050. A climate fund is created through assessed contributions of developed countries, totalling at least 0.5 per cent of their GDP, but ideally 1 per cent of their GDP.
Are we perhaps open to committing to some voluntary targets on emission reduction through a big push for solar energy, for instance?
Given the very low level of energy consumption in our country, it is inevitable that our total and per capita emissions will continue to rise in the foreseeable future, before they peak and decline. Nevertheless, India has consciously embraced the philosophy of sustainable growth. This is why the energy intensity of our GDP growth has been declining over the past decade and more. We have delivered 8-9 per cent of annual GDP growth with a less than 4 per cent per annum growth in our energy use. Our PM has made a commitment, which is not required of us legally even as we pursue our goal of economic and social development and poverty eradication. We will not allow our per capita emissions to exceed the average per capita emissions of the developed countries.
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