Javadekar says Subramanian's views on climate change policy not India's

'Rich countries must meet their financial burden for climate change'

India would continue to ask for developed countries to meet their obligations to provide finance and technology to developing countries, said, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar. Dismissing the chief economic advisor (CEA) Arvind Subramanian’s views as one of many, he said India’s policy continued to be the same.

The minister was speaking to media here on Monday, two days after a high-level meeting of ministers and officials in the PMO on India’s climate change stance and its targets under Paris.

“Developed world themselves have committed to provide $100 billion annually by 2020. That is a commitment. We are only reminding them of it,” the minister said.

The CEA had earlier recommended that India drop its demand for climate finance, ask support only for clean coal and at the same time stop focusing on adaptation. He had also suggested India move away from poor countries like the Africa group and other developing country blocks such as BASIC, LMDC and BRICS. He had advised India to build a closer coalition of coal-bearing countries such as Poland and Australia.

Javadekar said the targets, which had to be submitted for the Paris agreement by India, would include details on finance, technology and capacity building, besides mitigation.

“Many other countries have only focused on mitigation but our intended nationally determined contributions (INDC) will focus on all elements that are part of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change,” he said.

The minister did not reveal the date for the formal submission of the INDC but said India would showcase its actions through a Pavilion at the Paris meeting for the first time and also through a science train focusing on climate change. Business Standard had earlier reported that India is likely to submit its INDC in second half of September. It will have an overarching target for reducing the carbon intensity of India’s economy.

The government is also contending with a substantially enhanced target for renewable energy of up to 300 Gw by 2030. India will also look at a specific target for energy efficiency. But multiple sources in the government said it was yet to be decided how the sub-components would be articulated and reflected in the part of INDC submission that would be open to international scrutiny. India also plans to project a list of technologies across sectors along with clean coal technologies that would be required for the country to achieve a low carbon pathway in future.

He also said, “I think as BASIC partners we have discussed and presented our common views on all platforms.” He added that India will remain part of BASIC (Brazil, India, South Africa and China), BRICS (Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa) and LMDC (Like-Minded Developing Countries) in the run-up to the Paris meeting in November end. To emphasise his point Javadekar noted that India would host a meeting of the LMDC group in September.