Countries need to have a “climate budget”, said the Union Environment Minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh, adding that India would campaign for this, in the six month run-up to the Cancun meeting on climate change.

A ‘carbon budget' is a cap on the total quantity of greenhouse gas emissions emitted in a country over a specified time. Under a system of carbon budgets, every tonne of greenhouse gas emitted between today and 2050 will be accounted.

Rise in emissions in one sector of the industry, will have to balance with corresponding fall in another. The Minister was addressing the media at a conference on global carbon budgets and equity in climate change, organised by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

Expressing concern on the outcome of the Cancun meet on climate change, to be held in December, Mr Ramesh said a comprehensive, overarching agreement on climate change is highly unlikely.

The reason is that developed countries have not fulfilled their earlier pledge to provide $30 billion from 2010-13 to developing countries to fight climate change, he said.