India rejects emissions cuts for a decade - New Delhi stays tough ahead of global talks

India rejects emissions cuts for a decade - New Delhi stays tough ahead of global talks
By James Lamont in New Delhi and Fiona Harvey in London
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
Published: July 31 2009 19:29 | Last updated: July 31 2009 19:29
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/80a9200e-7dfe-11de-8f8d-00144feabdc0.html


India will not discuss signing up to legally binding obligations to make absolute cuts in greenhouse gas emissions for at least 10 years, Jairam Ramesh, the country’s environment minister, said on Friday.

“In 2020, it’s conceivable that we might look at a limited target. But in 2009, no way,” said Mr Ramesh.

The toughening of New Delhi’s stance marks an escalation in the war of words over global warming that India has waged with the developed world ahead of crucial negotiations in Copenhagen in December. The bad-tempered dialogue bodes ill for the success of those talks.

Both India and China are unhappy over what they see as western pressure on them to join in a global deal, while the developed world – which bears historic responsibility for global warming – has failed to meet its own emissions targets.

Western countries are trying to persuade India to embrace a low-carbon future and not repeat the mistakes made in the rush to industrialise. Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, recently attempted to persuade India that its economic growth rates would not be jeopardised by low carbon emissions, and offered technological help.

India and China have said they will not accept targets that would require them to reduce their emissions in the short to medium term, arguing that their fast-growing economies should not be hampered when western countries were responsible for climate change.

Mr Ramesh said: “We are enjoying [this battle] because many western countries have not met their obligations and where there was an agreed baseline [on emissions] they are now changing it all together.”

However, India’s opposition to making absolute reductions in the level of its emissions does not make an agreement in Copenhagen impossible.

Although India and China have vocally opposed cuts in public, their comments are belied by the fact that developing countries are not being asked to take on any such reduction targets.

Instead, while rich nations are prepared to make cuts in their emissions levels, they only expect poor nations to curb the growth of their emissions. They are requesting that rapidly emerging economies take on a programme of actions that, while falling short of emissions cuts, would ensure that their greenhouse gas output increased at a slower rate than it otherwise would – to “deviate from business as usual”.