India Unmoveable On Climate Change Commitments

Posted on 20. Jul, 2009 by Ross in Asia, Government Policy

Despite growing international pressure to commit to legally binding carbon emission targets at December’s Copenhagen climate change conference, India is continuing to robustly ignore criticism in its continuing surge towards economic development.

The presence of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did little to dissuade Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh from declaring that India would never take on the sort of legally binding commitments which other nations were making in the lead up to the successor of the Kyoto Treaty. The press conference between the two, held at the ITC Green Building in Gurgaon, was a precursor to Clinton’s official engagements today where the US-Indian dialogue will centre around finance, agriculture, non-proliferation and climate change.

Despite efforts on the part of Clinton to diffuse potential tensions, Ramesh was quite clear in his statements of India’s position on current climate negotiations:

Embedded in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Bali Action Plan, we are fully alive to our global responsibilities. Even with 8-9% GDP growth every year for the next decade or two, our per capita emissions will be well below that of developed country averages.

There is simply no case for the pressure that we, who have been among the lowest emitters per capita, face to actually reduce emissions. And as if this pressure was not enough, we also face the threat of carbon tariffs on our exports to countries such as yours.

India’s reluctance to act on climate change comes despite the current droughts which threaten to leave India facing a massive energy shortage. The sub-continent is facing a mild monsoon season due to the El Nino weather phenomenon which has left hydroelectric power stations with little remaining reserves.

Image by World Economic Forum @ Flickr