India, which was one of the leading countries framing the face-saving Copenhagen Accord on climate change last December (EurActiv 19/12/09), is convinced that replacing the protocol with another instrument would only lend credence to the suspicion that the developed countries wish to get away from their legally-binding commitments.
According to Ambassador Bhagwati, such a move would also put a question mark over the credibility of any new legal obligations rich nations might take on board under a new instrument.
Copenhagen failed due to a sustained divide between the positions of developed and developing countries, he noted, underlining that only ambitious emission reduction targets by developed countries would lead to a meaningful and credible agreed outcome in Mexico.
India is doing everything possible within the limitations of its own resources to reduce emissions, which per capita are lower than the average per capita emissions of developed countries, argued the ambassador.
The Indian National Action Plan will enable the country to make a strategic shift from its current reliance on carbon-based fossil fuels to renewable and clean sources of energy, he stressed, saying that the country has effectively delinked economic growth from energy use, and the energy intensity of its GDP is now among the best in the world.
Asked why India still ranks 123rd on the 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), the highest level compared to other newly-industrialised countries like Brazil, Russia and even China, the ambassador said poverty is the worst polluter, quoting former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
"For a country like India, with one of the smallest carbon footprints in the world, the first and overriding priority is to pursue economic development, to eradicate poverty and to address our energy poverty. There are still over half a billion people in India who do not have access to commercial energy," Bhagwati said, noting that the National Action Plan is an important step in that direction.
Amid 55 countries making pledges to cut emissions under the Copenhagen Accord, India committed to cut "carbon intensity" by between 20-25% by 2020 from 2005 (EurActiv 02/02/10).
"Our recent announcement for taking on a voluntary target of reducing the emissions intensity of India's GDP by 20-25% by 2020 in comparison to the 2005 level follows our assessment that our emissions intensity has declined by over 17% during 1990-2005. This certainly is a further manifestation of the seriousness with which India wants to contribute to global action on climate change," Bhagwati added.
