Climate change: India throws spanner in the works

by Rich Bowden - Apr 13 2009, 07:45

As the world prepares for vital post-Kyoto climate talks at the end of the year in Copenhagen, the thorny issue of developing nations contributing to cuts in carbon emissions has again come to the fore.

One of the reasons given by the Bush administration for its rejection of the Kyoto emissions deal was the non-participation in carbon emission reduction by developing economic giants such as India and China. Now, in a hint of the Indian elephant in the room, a member of the Indian delegation to UN-sponsored climate talks in Bonn, Germany has said it would be "morally wrong" for his country to reduce emissions.

"If the question is whether India will take on binding emission reduction commitments, the answer is no," The Washington Post quoted the official as saying. "It is morally wrong for us to agree to reduce when 40 percent of Indians do not have access to electricity."

With over 60 percent of India's power being coal-generated, the country has said switching to alternative energy such as solar to power the country's burgeoning economic growth is far too expensive.

"Of course, everybody wants to go solar, but costs are very, very high," the official said.

Paradoxically though, India has said that it remains committed to a solution in Copenhagen saying that "...developing countries like India which would be most impacted by the adverse consequences of climate change."

The news comes as a blow for members of the Obama administration which has moved to position itself away from the obstructionist stance of the previous administration by supporting a bill introduced into the House of Congress calling for 20 percent cuts in emissions based on 2005 levels by 2020.

Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra K. Pachauri, was quoted by the Post as saying he thought it "very unlikely" that the Indian government would change its position though said he held out hope for the Obama-backed proposal in the US.

"I am reasonably optimistic. But it is not entirely upon President Obama. He has to carry the Congress and the Senate with him," he said.

The Bonn talks are seen as a precursor to the major summit in Copenhagen in December.

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