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| No question of taking any binding emission cuts, says India |
| Press Trust Of India / New Delhi Nov 30, 2009, 00:56 IST |
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India today said there was no question of taking any binding carbon emission cuts, indicating the coordinated approach major emerging economies, including Beijing and New Delhi, are likely to adopt at the climate change summit in Copenhagen, which is just a week away.
“There cannot be any emission cuts... That is what we have said and this is also which is something what the developed countries have said... “that they (industrialised nations) don’t expect countries like India, actually to sign on to emission reduction target but rather to sign to a deviation from business as usual,” the country’s top climate negotiator, Shyam Saran, told a private channel, NDTV, at Port of Spain.
Saran’s views have come a day after India and China along with other developing nations forged a common front to put pressure on the developed nations at the UN summit that begins from December 7.
Saran dismissed notions that there was any pressure on India to taken on legal emission cuts at the coming meet. And instead referred to various voluntary steps taken by it whether in terms of renewable energy or improvement in energy efficiency. The steps have actually added up to a very major contribution to the global efforts on mitigation, the special envoy to the Prime Minister on climate change noted.
He maintained that, “it is a question how this (mitigation steps) has to be reflected at Copenhagen. And what we have stated is that we are in a position to reflect whatever we are doing in the form of our national communication to the UN Framework on Climate Change.” Saran also equated China’s recent pledge to reduce carbon intensity with India’s various steps taken to improve energy efficiency across the sectors in the country.
“China has essentially not announced an emission reduction target but has announced a slowing down of its emission growth. It is reducing the energy intensity and then the carbon intensity of its future growth. It means its (rate of) emission will grow slower than they would normally have,” he explained, adding that now what India is also doing is that its emissions will rise, but less than economic growth.
“That (what China is doing) is not very different from what India has been saying, that even though its energy efficiency is already quite impressive, it is in position to continue with this improvement in its energy efficiencies and probably reach a figure of about 25 per cent by 2020.”
He reminded that “the country has delivered 8-9 per cent growth in the last 10 years or more with only a 3.8 or 3.9 per cent growth in our energy per annum, which means energy intensity growth is coming down and this trend is expected to continue.” If you want to convert it or avoid the emission, that amounts to a very significant deviations (from business as usual).
The statement prepared by India and China, along with other key developing nations in Beijing, has said the Kyoto Protocol should remain in force, with rich countries taking responsibility to cut emissions in accordance with the protocol's second commitment period from 2013.
A PRIMER ON CLIMATE CHANGE
What is climate change?
Climate change refers to a statistically significant variation in either the mean state of the climate or its variability, persisting for an extended period (typically decades or longer). For instance, the sea levels are rising and agriculture is being impacted apart from other extreme events. Shifting weather patterns can threaten food production while rising sea levels can contaminate coastal freshwater reserves and increase the risk of catastrophic flooding. A warming atmosphere could aid the pole-ward spread of pests and diseases once limited to the tropics. Ice and rock avalanches in mountains and changes in some Arctic and Antarctic flora and fauna, including sea-ice biomes and predators high in the food chain are some other effects.
How will it impact India?
Asian megadeltas, such as the Ganges-Brahmaputra are at risk because of large populations and high exposure to sea-level rise, storm surge and river flooding. Also, the Himalayan glaciers can melt leading to flooding, rock avalanches, disruption of water sources. In tropical areas, crop yield is projected to decrease, even with relatively modest rises of 1-2 degrees centigrade in local temperature, increasing the risk of hunger. The changes in health will be most felt by those least able to adapt, such as the poor, the very young and the elderly.
What has India done till date?
India is doing its bit with the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) which includes 8 missions - solar, enhanced energy efficiency, sustainable habitat, water, sustaining the Himalayan ecosystem, green India, sustainable agriculture, and strategic knowledge for climate change. India has also reportedly offered to cut energy intensity of its emissions by 20-25 per cent following similar moves from the US and China (Energy intensity means energy used per unit of income or output. This means that emissions will increase but slowly. An emission intensity is the average emission rate of a given pollutant from a given source relative to the intensity of a specific activity).
What do the US and China announcements on voluntary cuts imply?
The US spoke of an absolute emission reduction target of 17 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020 while China said it would reduce its energy intensity per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 40-45 per cent by 2020. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) says that for the US, this translates into a mere 3 per cent reduction below the 1990 levels while science demands that developed countries cut their emissions by 40 per cent below 1990 levels, notes Kushal Yadav, coordinator of the climate change programme at the Centre. Besides, the US targets remain domestic targets and are not covered by a multilateral legally-binding agreement.
The CSE explains that China's emissions will continue to grow but at a slower rate. How much is actually achieved will depend on the rate at which the Chinese economy grows. In other words, if the economy grows at 7 per cent per annum, then the emissions of China, after accounting for the 40-45 per cent energy intensity reduction target will grow by 50 per cent over 2005 levels. If the economy grows at 10 per cent per annum, then the emissions will increase by 150 per cent over 2005 levels.
But why should India feel the pressure?
India's intensity of carbon dioxide or CO2 use is among the lowest in the world (and equal to that of Europe in 2007), and China's is among the highest. India's trend decline in intensity is comparable to the world's average. However, the centre categorically states that in no way do these ‘new’ targets put pressure on India to commit to any reduction target. The current Indian per capita emission is 1.1 tonne. For the US, this figure is more than 20 tonnes. India's energy intensity by unit of GDP has reduced from 0.3 kgoe per US$ GDP in PPP terms in 1980 to 0.16 kgoe currently. This is already lower than US and China and is comparable to Germany.
So, is the environment ministry moving away from India’s stance on climate change and G-77 principles?
The government has to engage with all players across the spectrum. It is working on the principle of common but differentiated responsibility but in keeping with the G-77 principles, has not accepted any legally-binding cuts.
What are legally-binding cuts?
The Kyoto Protocol is an amendment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an international treaty intended to bring countries together to reduce global warming and to cope with the effects of temperature increases that are unavoidable after 150 years of industrialisation. The provisions of the Kyoto Protocol are legally binding on the ratifying nations, and stronger than those of the UNFCCC.
Under these conditions, will countries reach an agreement in Copenhagen?
Though things don't look bright at this point of time, there's still hope that there will be some movement with some degree of compromise. Things will not stop beyond Copenhagen and momentum may pick up.
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