NEW DELHI, 7 FEB: Apparently in its attempt to see that current concerns over climate change do not derail the momentum of growth in developing countries, India today decided to commission a study on equity of existing carbon space in the atmosphere that is expected to help decide on the equity of future emission flows.
The decision was announced by Union Environment minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh on the sidelines of 10th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) here being organised by TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute). “We have commissioned a study on equity of carbon space. I have asked Arvind Subramanian, a noted economist with the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington to prepare a paper on this,” the minister said. Past emissions of green house gases by developed nations in fact has taken a major share of carbon space.
The carbon space refers to the gap between existing carbon volumes in the atmosphere and the volume that will be dangerous for environment. The government move to commission a study on equity of carbon space came ahead of an international workshop of climate here in preparations for the Bonn meeting on climate change in May this year. “We do not have clarity on how equity is to be enshrined in international agreements,” the minister said seeking to justify the need for the study. He claimed that per capita emission would enable equity of carbon space.
At the DSDS meeting earlier, there was a general feeling that finance ministers of various countries should also be present at the climate negotiations. The French Ambassador in charge of International Negotiations on climate change underlined the need for participation by heads of states at climate summits. Mexican environment minister Mr Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada said there was a need to change the traditional way of climate negotiations.
Nobel laureate on global warming
Countries should take help from religious leaders to create mass understanding about global warming and thus help curb it, according to Ms Wangari Maathai, Nobel laureate from Kenya. "We should solicit the support of religious groups," Maathai, a 2004 Nobel peace prize winner said yesterday at the Delhi Sustainable and Development Summit here.
"The religious groups and leaders can play a major role (in persuading people). The approach should be bottom up to tackle the climate threat," she said.
