‘We need a business case for clean tech transfer’

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: will always seek the cheapest options out there and not automatically follow policy directions. If the Indian government decides to improve the energy efficiency of all the cement kilns in the country by a certain percentage, you will need some government to government cooperation to get it going. You can’t rely on the market alone. Similarly, if India were to increase the share of the renewable energy, it’s more logical for the government to step in. It could still be done through mechanisms that create a carbon value, but the market is not going to do all of it by itself.

Finally, when will clean technology transfer from rich countries to developing countries take place?

You see, technology is mostly owned by the private sector. The private sector will invest only if there is a market. It’s a matter of creating the market that will move the technology. I don’t think there are very many technologies in the public domain that governments can just give to other governments. There has to be a business case for it. Secondly, in countries like India where you have so many small and medium enterprises, you need very targeted mechanisms, almost on company to company basis, to tell people what can be done to improve energy efficiency, and then the appropriate technology can follow.

The Adaptation Fund got a shot in the arm in Bali. What are your expectations from it?

As you know, it relies on a levy on CDM and we have not begun to auction those emission rights as yet. There are 2,000 projects in the CDM pipeline right now. Though I expect the resources for CDM to grow, we are going to need a lot more.

Where will the money come from?

In the case of small and medium enterprises, a part of the money will come from the companies themselves because it will lower their energy bills. Secondly, a part of the money can come from the carbon market because that will be a way of generating carbon dioxide credits. Thirdly, I see the potential in the government to government cooperation in the future.

How soon do you think all this is likely to happen?

I don’t see that happening until we complete the next climate change conference in Copenhagen.

What do you think of the new climate change fund set up by the US? Are they getting serious about addressing the issue?