'Don't expect much from Copenhagen summit'

Asking Indians not to expect much from the climate change conference in Copenhagen, environment minister Jairam Ramesh today said the government would follow a “twin track” approach of not binding itself to any global agreement but, at the same time, putting in place “ruthless” measures to cut emissions on the domestic front.

“You should not have too much expectations from the Copenhagen summit. It looks like the negotiations would continue,” he said, after releasing a United Nations report on population. “It seems there is a long haul before we arrive at an international commitment,” Ramesh added.

According to the minister, though climate change is a fundamental issue for India, the country has to look at it from a development perspective.

“I think there is an abundance of evidence to show that climate change is not related in any way to population growth,” he said, adding it is rather more of a lifestyle issue. Ramesh said this was evident from the fact that though China was recording negative population growth during the 1990s, its emissions kept on increasing. “Emissions are caused by consumption patterns. There is no iron law to say that India with its growing population has chances of increasing emissions,” he said. He added that in fact India, through its growth model, can set alternative patters for growth.