News on India Climate Change and Energy
Posted November 10, 2009
We are less than a month away from the start of the Copenhagen Summit and the debate on climate change in India - and the media coverage - is intensifying.
Nitin Desai — former UN official and member of Prime Minister Singh's council on climate change — argues for a focus on common ground rather than haggling on concessions. He believes that COP 15 will result in small agreements on tech, forestry, and assistance.
Indian climate envoy Shyam Saran calls for nations to create a platform for clean tech sharing. Saran tells participants at an Indian Economic Summit that climate change negotiations are deadlocked.
An article in Newsweek sees India's Prime Minister Singh as positioning India for global leadership through new stance at Copenhagen. An article in Time says that India's negative image on climate is undeserved. The US calls for India to assume a leading role on climate. India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh says the immediate priority is building a consensus at home, rather than abroad.
UNIPCC Chair Dr. Rajendra Pauchari takes issue with Minister Ramesh's claim that glacial melt is not the threat it is portrayed as. Dr. Pauchari also disagrees with Center for Science and Environment head Sunita Narain, in opposing editorials on the need (or lack of) for a Copenhagen agreement.
Delhi is the first state with a local implementation plan for National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). The NAPCC includes eight missions (including solar and energy efficiency missions) which form India's plans for mitigation and adaptation. A new website called Climate Action Tracker gives India overall a "medium" assessment, but as more states iterate their local plans, this rating should go up. Prime Minister Singh receives a favorable rating from Greenpeace on climate action based on the NAPCC. To help fulfill India's climate goals, PM Singh called for expanded funding from developed countries.
The EU warns of serious health impacts in India as a result of climate change.
Some in Washington seem to be noticing that India is starting to act on climate change: US climate envoy Todd Stern tells a House of Representatives committee that "The thing that is really important to understand is that countries like China and India are actually doing a lot. They are not in the world any more of saying we don't have to worry about this problem, there is nothing that we have to do. They are taking a lot of action," he said. Senator Joseph Lieberman told the National Journal that movement by India and China on climate is a signal that the time has come for American legislation on the same.
