Pre-Obama visit: Javadekar talks tough on climate change

Says developed countries are not doing enough to curb emissions; India's right to grow cannot be compromised

Two days ahead of US President Barack Obama’s visit to India, Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar said developed countries weren’t doing enough to curb emissions, adding India’s right to grow couldn’t be compromised.

“We don’t answer to pressure. We don’t act under pressure and our action will be stronger,” he said at the India Today Roundtable here. “But the positive aspect is Obama personally, as a captain, shows his commitment towards climate change and that is important.”

Obama is scheduled to arrive in India on January 25 for a three-day visit and talks on climate change will be on the agenda of the US president.

On the sidelines, Javadekar said that the central agenda with Obama will be clean energy technology. "Climate change is not the prime issue but one of the talking points of the Indo-US joint statement. The central issues will revolve around bringing clean technology and green planet fund for the developing countries."

He said that the advanced nations dictate the developing countries on the plan of actions but "global warming hasn't happened because of India but because of 200 years of industrial revolution which led to carbon emissions."

Talking about phasing out greenhouse refrigerant gases hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) under the Montreal Protocol, Javadekar said that it trusted the developed countries when it pushed from a transition from Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) to HFCs primarily used in air conditioning and refrigeration. ?Developed countries said CFCs and other chemicals are bad because they are ozone depleting. We believed them when they said that HFCs are the alternative. Now they are saying, HFCs are more dangerous but we need an alternative.?

Javadekar said the BJP government is committed to investment growth and this right to grow cannot be compromised. "We are at a real developing stage. Modi wants investment to grow, naturally emissions will also grow but energy efficiency will also go up," Javadekar said.

He pointed out that the per capita carbon di-oxide tonne per person emission in India is way less than developed countries like US, China and EU. ""We are nowhere. We are not polluting. Our right to growth cannot be compromised," he added.

In fact, Javadekar drew an analogy with HIV AIDS and said climate change is a bigger issue.