India seeks new path on climate change

India seeks new path on Climate Change. India has softened its harsh voice on resisting carbon limits. The change is brought about by India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is nudging India into a more international pose on topics ranging from trade to Climate Change.
Mr. Singh says India faces multiple complex stumbling blocks that are all interrelated. These include everything from domestic issues like pollution and energy security to even national security. All are tied into Climate Change.
Experts say India's previous stand did not work. India is seen as an unwilling laggard on Climate Change. China meanwhile, India's top development ally, has come off as more active on Climate Change, despite resisting legal limits on carbon emissions.
"We can not compromise our basic national position on protecting our prospects for growth, but we can see things that can be done," said Nitin Desai, one of the Prime Minister's special Climate Change advisors. "The signal that I get is that India is not going to be a spoiler at Copenhagen. If a reasonable deal can be worked out, they will be there."
Experts are looking at alternatives to mandatory rules on carbon limits, like those of the failing Kyoto Protocol. As Copenhagen approaches within 3 months planners are considering providing credit for domestic programs, like the one India is considering.
India's ties to China on development make it seem the two are equal emitters of carbon. China is the worlds biggest carbon emitter. India emits a fifth of the carbon emissions of China, measured both in total and per capita. China comprises 23% of all worldwide carbon emissions while India contributes just 5%.
David Victor, an energy expert who researches India's Climate Change policies, believes the developing nations will break up as India distinguishes itself from nations like Mexico, Brazil and China that have more mature economies and  greater carbon emissions. "The Indians need to be very careful that they are seen as a different kind of country."
Mr. Ramesh, India's Environmental Minister, said, "China has raced ahead of us, in conveying they are doing a lot on Climate Change." Mr. Ramesh said India has 2 basic requirements for Copenhagen. Industrialized countries must consent to steep cuts in carbon by 2020 and provide monetary and technical help to the Emerging World. India is still against mandatory carbon limits.

Mr. Ramesh said despite all the bad press about India on Climate Change, he said the Environmental Ministry is introducing legislation to the Indian Parliament to strengthen fuel efficiency standards, create voluntary targets to improve energy efficiency and promote solar power and implement clean coal technology among its utilities.
At the U.N. last month Mr. Ramesh highlighted the basic needs of India like increased forestation cover, lengthening a treaty on investment in Green Technology and more technological help.
For a long time, India defined its stance on Climate Change in geopolitical economic social justice and a national rights terms, claiming the Industrialized nations created Climate Change and the majority of response should come from the West.
Historically India has said legal limits on carbon would stunt India's economic development. This debate is still raging in India as part of the domestic debate on Climate Change. Mr. Singh was rebuked by members of Parliament after consenting last summer in Italy to prevent worldwide temperatures from increasing more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit from today.
Mr. Ramesh said its his responsibility to create a new domestic political partnership on how India can fruitfully work on Climate Change without jeopardizing India's economy, "without a solid domestic consensus, or even domestic constituency, we can not even think about engaging internationally. And this is also true of the United States", he added. "Its true of all democracies."