Bring down per capita emissions, India to West

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Oz urged for climate change agreementBring down per capita emissions, India to West'Impacts of climate change would be serious'India calls for assistance to combat climate chang...

New Delhi, February 7:: India has made clear that if industrialised countries take initiatives to bring down their per capita carbon emissions, it would reduce its threshold for carbon emissions.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurating the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit organised by The Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI) on Thursday urged for global support and said, "We need technology innovations for reduction of energy use by industry and other user sectors. We need massive action for afforestation, drought proofing and flood protection. We need to act to protect our coastal areas. We need action to protect the glaciers that feed our river systems. A whole gamut of development action needs to be planned and funded."

He informed that in the 11th Five Year Plan, which has been launched this year, has articulated strategies in many of these areas. A National Plan of Action on Climate Change would be released by June end, this year.

Manmohan Singh urged the summit to endorse India's stand to strengthen global initiatives in the area of climate change. He repeated his commitment made at the last G-8 Summit at Heiligendamm that India was prepared to commit that its per capita emission would not exceed the average per capita emissions of developed industrial countries. The emission reduction commitments by countries should be on per capita basis.

The three-day Delhi Sustainable Development Summit is being participated by delegates from several countries including the Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Finland, Matti Vanhanen, President of Iceland, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, Prime Minister of Denmark, Anders Fogh Rasmussen and President of Maldives, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Singh reminded the participants of India's approach to the global problems being based on ancient Sanskrit saying ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ – the whole world is one large family. The issue of tackling global climate change needed efforts by all countries, he said and emphasized the need to "ensure an acceptable standard of living for all our people following sustainable path for that development, " he said and added ‘climate justice must, therefore, inform all efforts at international collaboration in act of human solidarity’.