Time frame sought for GHG emission control

The Hindu , Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Correspondent : Special Correspondent
Developing countries need financial support, says India

NEW DELHI: India has asked the industrialised nations to set an effective time frame for a significant reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to deal with climate change.

Inaugurating the Second Sustainability Summit: Asia 2007 here on Tuesday, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee expressed “extreme concern” over climate change and said developing countries would bear a “disproportionately severe” impact of its adverse effects.

He said the developing countries had to adapt to the inevitability of climate change for which financial and technological support was required.

Mr. Mukherjee said clean technologies should be made available to the developing countries to help them deal with the challenges posed by climate change.

Although India was home to 17 per cent of the world’s population and its GHG (a collective term for gases such as carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbon and ozone) emissions were four per cent of the global emissions, Mr. Mukherjee said India’s emissions would not increase beyond those of the industrialised nations.

The Minister said India was pursuing many sources of energy, including nuclear power.

“Strong efforts are being made by the government to increase the share of nuclear power in the total power generation,” he said.

He called on individuals, particularly from the developed nations, to adopt a lifestyle that had sustainable energy consumption patterns.

“To sustain our projected GDP growth rate of 9 per cent we require energy, and our per capita energy consumption is less than a third of the global average. A rapid increase in energy use is imperative to realise our national development goals and the Millennium Development Goals. While economic growth over the last five years has been around 9 per cent, India’s commercial energy consumption has only grown by under 4 per cent.”

The Indian development canvas is huge, and the achievement of the objectives will require efforts for resource mobilisation, investment in infrastructure and social sectors, improved resource allocation, and people’s participation.

The social and environmental challenges facing the world in the 21st century are so complex and multi-dimensional that they can be solved only if the government, industry and NGOs work together, Mr. Mukherjee said.

Some people equate sustainable development with environmental protection; this was only a third of the truth. Equally important were the pillars of economic and social development.

 
SOURCE : The Hindu, Wednesday, 12 December 2007
 


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