After much dilly-dallying, the government on Monday announced the national action plan for dealing with the adverse impacts of climate change. Though the plan doesn?t entail any time-bound reduction of domestic greenhouse gas emissions, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that India ?s per capita green house gas emissions would ?at no point exceed that of developed countries.?
While the actual data on the present India ?s greenhouse emissions is yet to be compiled, the data goes back to 1994. In 1994, per capita emission was just 0.87 tonne per person per year which according to an estimate has increased to 1.1 tonne per person till now which still very ?low? compared to developed countries. The US emits roughly 20 tonne green house gas compared to 4 tonnes by China .
Under the action plan, the government proposes to create eight missions focusing on areas like solar energy, mission for enhances energy efficiency, water mission, mission for a green India, mission for sustainable habitat, mission for sustaining the Himalayan ecosystem, sustainable agriculture and creation of strategic knowledge for climate change.
The action plan specifically mentions about importance of solar energy by stating that photovoltaic cells are becoming cheaper with new technology. ?The Himalayan ecosystem has 45 million people who practice hill agriculture and whose vulnerability is expected to increase on account of climate change,? it said.
Although under Kyoto Protocol (2008-2012) ratified under the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate change (UNFCCC), India does not have a legal or binding obligation to reduce carbon emission, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had constituted a committee of 22 experts to draft an action plan ahead of G-8 summit schedule to commence from July 8.
Scheduled to leave for the G-8 summit in Japan on July 7, the PM said that India is ready to play it part in efforts to address issues concerning climate change. Strongly pitching for developed countries do reduce their per capital green house gases, Singh said, ?Every citizen of this planet must have an equal share of the planetary atmospheric space. Long-term convergence of per capita emissions is, therefore, the only equitable basis for a global compact on climate change.?
India?s stand in international negotiations is based on the principle of ? the polluter pays?, Shyam Saran, special envoy of Prime Minister had recently said. Meanwhile, US President George W Bush said that any binding emission targets to tackle the pressing issue of climate change facing the world would have to include India and China to be ?workable?.