Environment Minister Says India Will Reduce Pollutants, But Will Not Accept Legally Binding Emission Cuts At Copenhagen

December 7, 2009 7:23 a.m. EST

New Delhi (AHN) - India's environment minister, Jairam Ramesh said on Friday that India will never accept legally binding emission cuts at Copenhagen. The Minister clarified that India will also not accept an agreement demarcating the peaking year.

A peaking year is the year after which developing countries emissions levels will be at peak.

Ramesh also made it clear that India not allow international emission scrutiny of its indigenous technology, developed without foreign support, although it will be flexible on scrutiny of ventures developed with outside financial and technological support.

He said, "We would not subject unsupported actions to the same scrutiny as the supported actions."

Ramesh said that India is voluntarily ready to reduce emission intensity by 20-25% in 15 years from 2005. India's Planning Commission has also said that a 20-25% emission intensity reduction between 2005 and 2020 is possible.

The Planning Commission has made mid-term appraisal of the Eleventh Five Year Plan and is in the process of charting out a low carbon growth path for India.

Ramesh said the decision of reduction carbon intensity is also essential for India's stake to claim for global leadership on climate change.

He said, "More than to the international community, we have to show the action to our own people- to those living in the Sunderbans, in the north-east, in the Himalayas and in the Andaman and Nicobar islands - that the government was serious about tacking climate change."

The Minister said that the government will be imposing a strict emission regime including mandatory fuel efficiency for all vehicles by December 2010.

The Indian team to Copenhagen will also include two schoolchildren and two college going students. Ramesh said, "By 2030, '40 or '50, you and I will not be alive, so a 70 year and a 60 year old can hardly talk about the future. Those who will face the consequences of climate change are best suited to articulate these concerns."

Meanwhile, India has announced a national project on Climate Change through research in agriculture and associated sectors. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has taken up the project and will conduct research aimed at enhancing scientific adaptation and mitigation measures.

ICAR Studies, conducted so far, reveal that temperature rise in India will affect not only crops but also sectors like horticulture, water resources, livestock and the fisheries.

K.V. Thomas, minister of state for Agriculture told the Upper House of the Indian Parliament on Friday that heat stress will have negative impact on milk yield of livestock. Increased surface sea temperature would cause migration of fish and changes in breeding habitats.