November 21, 2008

UNDP report on carbon emissions in India

Mr Namo Narain Meena, union minister of state for environment & forests, in a written reply to a question by Mr Prabodh Panda in Parliament, said that according to Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Program, India, as a developing country, does not have any mitigation commitments, nevertheless, a sustainable development path is being followed through a range of policies and programs to mitigate climate change and reduce carbon emissions.

The report has recommended developing a multilateral framework for avoiding dangerous climate change under the post 2012 Kyoto Protocol that includes inter alia

i) Agree to global sustainable emissions pathway aimed at 50% reductions of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 from 1990 levels

ii) Targets under KP implemented by developed countries, with a further agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050, with 20% to 30% cuts by 2020

iii) Major emitters in developing countries to aim at an emissions trajectory that peaks in 2020, with 20% cuts by 2050