India Acts on Climate Change

Today is 350.org's International Day of Climate Action.  It is inspiring to see such concern about the urgent need to address climate change being displayed through more than 5,000 actions in 181 countries throughout the world (check out the  images of NRDC staffers showing their support for 350).   In India, there are planned activities in more than 80 cities.

Recently we have been writing a lot about the encouraging shift in India's government on climate change, and now it's great to see these expressions of citizen engagement — which is essential to driving real progress on combating climate change.  You can see photos of some of the rallies, walks, bicycle rides, plays, tree plantings, and festivals that are taking place in India on the 350.org photo-stream and the flickr.com India 350 page.

Another sign of movement forward is the pact India and China signed this week to work together over the next five years on climate change.  This new partnership should deter those here in the United States from using inaction by India and China as an excuse for not moving forward with our own climate change legislation. 

Finally, I want to call attention to a recent Op-Ed by  Dr. Rajendra Pauchari, the Chair of the IPCC.  In his piece for Nature magazine, Dr. Pauchari explains why India wants to be a constructive player in Copenhagen.  India wants a good deal, he writes, because it is vulnerable to impacts of climate change (see my colleagues' blogs on this here and here) and "has a direct interest in adaptation measures for coping with projected climate change" that would be part of an international regime.  Dr. Pauchari points out that India has moved forward with an ambitious National Action Plan on Climate Change, "that it could, at an appropriate stage of the negotiations, offer as part of a global package of commitments."

"We need a more constructive spirit between developed and developing countries if we are to reach an effective agreement in Copenhagen," he concludes. Today, people in almost every developed and developing country in the world are setting an example for leaders everywhere of how we can - and must - work together to combat climate change.

(Thanks to Michael Thompson for his assistance on this blog entry.)

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