India starts work on climate action plan

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India starts work on climate action plan

 

http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn12258-india-starts-work-on-climate-action-plan-.html

 

• 17:26 13 July 2007
  
• NewScientist.com news service
  
• New Scientist Environment and Reuters

 

India took the first step towards developing a national plan to tackle the effects of global warming and assess its own greenhouse-gas emissions on Friday.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's new Council on Climate Change (CCC) held its first meeting in a bid to come up with a plan ahead of a key United Nations climate-change meeting in Bali, Indonesia, in December. But the national plan will not set any national emissions targets.

"India is now responding to the urgency of the situation," says Sunita Narain, CCC member and director of the New Delhi-based think-tank, the Centre for Science and Environment. "We have never been very good at stating our position and it is the right time to articulate all the things that India is doing, and plans to do, to mitigate and adapt to global warming."

India's economy has grown by more than 8% a year recently, and the nation is responsible for 5.6% of global greenhouse-gas emissions, according to the World Resources Institute. It is one of the top five emitters among developing countries, along with China, Mexico, Brazil, and Indonesia. Its emissions are rising by between 2% and 3% a year.

But as a developing nation, the country is not required to cut emissions under the UN Kyoto protocol, although there is mounting pressure from environmental groups and industrialised nations to do so.

A recent global survey revealed that Indian citizens were among those most concerned about the effect of climate change.

Increasing efficiency

 

The new national plan will not include any overall emissions target; the country says it must increase its energy use as it lifts its vast population out of poverty. The same argument is used in China's climate action plan, and both countries notes that their per-capita emissions are low.

Despite being one of the world's top 5 emitters by volume, India ranks just 147th out of 186 countries in terms of emissions per person. On average, each Indian emits 1.9 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, compared with 24.3 tonnes for the average US citizen. The average Chinese person emits 3.9 tonnes per year.

Instead of agreeing on targets, the CCC is likely to consider ways to increase energy efficiency and to boost the use of renewable energy sources. It will also seek to integrate climate-change policy across the different ministries.

"Different ministries like environment and industry and agriculture have all been working separately on climate change, so it has been difficult to communicate and coordinate one single policy on the issue," said a senior environment official. "This council will help us to reach a consensus which suits all sectors."

December's UN-hosted meeting will seek to formulate a successor to the Kyoto protocol, which lapses in 2012.

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