CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL EQUITY: India cools on developed country apathy [again]

Small carbon footprints, poverty and addressing adapatation characterise developing countries. Yet, they remain pariahs for many developed country mitigation programmes and excuses for inaction.

Source: India News by Arun Kumar, IANS - "India asks developed world to walk the talk on climate change"
India has asked developed countries to walk the talk on climate change and stop harping on standards "benchmarks" to let developing countries play their part through agreed flexibility mechanisms.
"An absolutely clear imperative is that developed countries walk the talk on GHG (Green House Gas reductions)," R. Chidambaram, principal scientific advisor to the Indian government, told a US-sponsored international climate change in Honolulu Thursday.
"There has to be a clear understanding that developing countries have small individual carbon footprints and their overriding priority has to remain poverty eradication and addressing adaptation," said the leader of the Indian delegation to the second Major Economics Meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change.
"Developing countries including India, are playing a part in the international action on mitigation especially through the flexibility mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol as also taking nationally appropriate action on mitigation," he said.
Expressing concern over suggestions on setting standard "benchmarks" for various technology sectors, Chidambaram said: "Such benchmarking would be premature for developing countries - smaller players have to catch up.
"Moreover, we should not put the cart before the horse. If technologies are transferred properly, standards would automatically be achieved."
Asking the participants to "sculpt our ideas and proposals on climate change within the provisions and principles of the Framework Convention," Chidambaram made a strong plea for the "spirit of common but differentiated responsibilities" to pervade their deliberations.
Expressing concern that the agenda did not emphasise the special need to support developing countries, he said: "The group of large economies representing both developed and developing countries should be able to discuss issues of relevance to both but within the clearly identified building blocks and other details negotiated at Bali."
Noting the Bali Action Plan is about long term cooperative action to enable full, effective and sustained implementation of the Framework Convention, Chidambaram asked the participants to do "without suggestions for additions, including on competitiveness etc., which are the subject matter of discussions elsewhere."
The major economies process is well placed to contribute to the building block of technology with both its components, he said suggesting, "If knowledge is already available and technology is already developed, it should be transferred to the developing countries."
"If the process of knowledge generation is still on, there should be scientific and technological cooperation between the developed and developing countries and in this India will be more than happy to contribute," Chidambaram said.
Noting the prospect of rapid depletion of fossil fuels are now driving the global development of energy related technologies like renewables, efficiency and nuclear, he said: "Development of each technology is complex."
"There is need for closing the nuclear fuel cycle," Chidambaram said, suggesting the response to climate change needs to be technology based and discussion on technology was necessary.
The setting of standard "benchmarks" goal needs to be realistic, apart from being based on a scientific consensus at a far higher spatial level than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
It should also take into account, historical cumulative emissions, per-capita emissions and the sustainable development needs of developing countries and be guided by Article 2 of the UN Framework Convention in its entirety, he said.
"The issue of a long term goal is, however, linked to issues of equity, Chidambaram said. "We believe that an equal per-capita entitlement to equal sustainable development is unassailable to ensure fairness and recognition that the earth's atmosphere is our common heritage to which all of us have an equal claim."
Noting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's determination to not let India's per-capita emissions exceed those of developed countries even as it pursues growth and development, he said: "This offer is, of course, a challenge to us but it also throws up a challenge to the developed countries and requires sharing of technology."
India was glad that Germany, France and Britain have accepted the importance of convergence in per-capita emissions for developing and developed countries.
"We would be happy to work with like-minded countries to develop this paradigm in a manner that also ensures accelerated growth and empowerment in the developing countries," Chidambaram said.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee led the Indian delegation at the first US-sponsored meeting of the world's 17 major economies in Washington last September.

CLIMATE CHANGE and GLOBAL ECONOMIC EQUITY: Recognition by Gordon of developing country claims on ecological space

Joint Statement issued by PM Gordon Brown with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh includes reference to climate change issues. They jointly recognise the importance of long-term convergence of per capita emission rates equitably through the UNFCC provision and principles, in particular the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. In other words, weighting those issues of concern [in the climate change debate at least] to developing countries, in particular those relating to addressing adaptation, technology, and financing arrangements. In the field of bilateral cooperation on climate change, the two Sides expressed satisfaction over the announcement of a UK-India Agreement on the second phase of UK-India Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Study. This talk is encouraging, but the reliance on the untested carbon trading "silver bullet" is easily misinterpreted as a smokescreen for "we intend doing very little about equity issues".

Source: e-Gov Monitor

10. India and the UK recognise the need to find effective and practical solutions to address concerns regarding climate change and its implications for human kind. These would include mitigation and adaptation strategies in a manner that supports further economic and social development in particular of developing countries. Long-term convergence of per capita emission rates is an important and equitable principle that should be seriously considered in the context of international climate change negotiations. They expressed satisfaction over the successful outcome at Bali that reaffirmed the relevance of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), including its provision and principles, in particular the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. The process established under the Bali Road Map should aim for enhanced implementation of the UNFCCC and give due weight to issues of concern to developing countries, in particular those relating to addressing adaptation, technology, and financing arrangements. In the field of bilateral cooperation on climate change, the two Sides expressed satisfaction over the announcement of a UK-India Agreement on the second phase of UK-India Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Study.
The UK and India are convinced that development of the international carbon market is important for the future and wish to explore new approaches to market related investment that offer the potential to drive technology transfer. The two Sides shall work towards the success of the second Phase of a project aimed at identifying the barriers to low carbon technology transfer. They will also collaborate on a project piloting implementation of programmatic CDM in India this year to jointly explore the potential of this to facilitate up-scaling of carbon market investment in accordance with India’s future development priorities. Both sides recognised the importance of Research and Development collaboration on low carbon energy technologies and welcomed the broadening dialogue between the two countries on clean coal technologies and other power generation technologies.

CLIMATE CHANGE, CARBON TRADING and ASIA: first futures trading for Asia in Mumbai

India's Multi Commodity Exchange opens Asia's first-ever commodity exchange to offer trades in carbon credits - among the select few including Chicago Climate Exchange and the European Climate Exchange. Carbon credits are generated by enterprises in the developing world by using cleaner technologies and saving on energy consumption. This consequently reduces their greenhouse gas emissions. For each reduced tonne of carbon dioxide emission, an organisation receives a carbon emission certificate, which it can sell, either immediately or through a futures market, just like any other commodity. Only time can tell if we are witnessing a "race to the top" or "tunnelling to the bottom", national gains and sub-national poverty or win-wins??

Source: Business Standard Reporter

Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), the country’s largest commodity exchange, today launched futures trading in carbon credits - one of the fastest emerging intangible commodities in developing countries including India.The trading unit of carbon credits is fixed at 200 tonne. Today, five annual contracts are available on the platform with respective expiries on 15 December 2008, Dec 2009, Dec 2010, Dec 2011 and Dec 2012.The tick size has been fixed at Re 0.50 per tonne while the exchange has decided to facilitate delivery on the expiry of the respective contracts.The initiative makes it Asia's first-ever commodity exchange and among the select few along with the Chicago Climate Exchange and the European Climate Exchange to offer trades in carbon credits."The launch of carbon credits is significant as more and more countries are adhering to global carbon emission norms," said Joseph Massey, deputy managing director, MCX.Carbon credits are generated by enterprises in the developing world by using cleaner technologies and saving on energy consumption. This consequently reduces their greenhouse gas emissions. For each reduced tonne of carbon dioxide emission, an organisation receives a carbon emission certificate, which it can sell, either immediately or through a futures market, just like any other commodity. Carbon trading is carried out under an UN-mandated international convention on climate change.Under the Kyoto Protocol, carbon credits, or carbon emission reduction certificates, are issued by the executive board of Clean Development Mechanism - the highest international body to register projects and issue credits.

CLIMATE CHANGE and ECONOMIC EQUITY: The People's Car arrives in India

Climate change evangelists are in uproar over the launch of Tata's latest locally-relevant innovation, the 'People's car'. With sales of cars going up, emissions worries are compounded by incomplete information and a lack of thinking about the equity [economic and social] that India's population deserves. First, the People's Car will replace inefficient emitting motos -- basically lawnmower engines working overtime. Second, these will be efficient petrol users and emitters -- assuming higher passenger loads. Third, safer [hopefully]. Fourth, benchmarking efficiency, price and quality in the Indian automotive sector for all other manufacturers, designers and planners to follow. Fifth, locally built enhancing multipliers. And finally, from an "ecological space" viewpoint, Indian consumers have a lot of carbon spare to burn in economically enriching ways. The People's Car is not perfect, but it is way better than consuming imported cars.

Tata says: "Indian car sales are predicted to more than quadruple to $145bn by 2016. Company chairman Ratan Tata said the launch of the Nano was a landmark in the history of transportation. Further, the car was "a safe, affordable and all weather transport - a people's car, designed to meet all safety standards and emissions laws and accessible to all".
Environmental critics have said that the car will lead to mounting air and pollution problems on India's already clogged roads. The car had passed emission standards and would average about 50 miles to the gallon, or five litres per hundred kilometres.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND EQUITY: India - Class injustice

Sub-national divisions between rich and poor in India are identified as being divisive both economically and environmentally. This excellent article from Frontline illustrates why decisions taken at an international level need to be coupled with responsible national practices in order to genuinely ensure that climate change is purse-neutral and that we all bear its costs and reap its benefits.

Source: Frontline - India's national magazine ... "class injustice" by R. RAMACHANDRAN

Rich Indians are eating into the carbon space the poor need for economic growth, and recent national policies have helped such disparities grow.
PARTH SANYAL A THERMAL POWER station in West Bengal. India is ranked as the 14th worst carbon intense electricity-producing nation in the world.
IT is a truism and so does not require detailed surveys to drive home its point: in India the disparities in living standards and consumption patterns, in particular of energy, between the rich and the poor are so vast that in the context of climate change, by emitting disproportionately large amounts of carbon, the former class is eating into the carbon space that the latter genuinely needs for its economic growth and development. By focussing exclusively on economic growth in the gross without adequately addressing issues of equity, national policies of the recent past have increased these disparities, which will only render the already vulnerable sections of India even more incapable of adapting to the dangerous effects of climate change.Greenpeace report
“Hiding Behind the Poor”, a recent report by Greenpeace India, provides a quantitative perspective to this internal “climate injustice”. Even such a quantitative perspective is not new. In 1997, N.S. Murthy and associates from the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai, highlighted the high degree of distortion in energy consumption prevalent in the country. Using 1989-90 data, they showed that the richest top 10 per cent of urban people emitted 12 times as much carbon a person a year as the bottom poor. They showed that the extreme disparity ratio (EDR), defined as the ratio of the energy (direct and indirect) consumed by the urban top and the rural bottom, was 10.3 for coal, 14.8 for oil and 9.0 for electricity and 12 in terms of the total carbon equivalent. The Greenpeace report only serves as a reminder – if one was required – that it is high time the government put in place appropriate policy measures to reverse this trend, which has been allowed to continue unbridled.
International negotiations on climate change have been premised on the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” to address the issue of the iniquitous development of nations and their highly disparate per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Since, historically, developed countries have been the biggest emitters of GHGs (in particular, of CO2 from burning fossil fuels) and hence are responsible for global warming and the consequent climate change, the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, framed under the convention, require that industrialised countries (called Annex-1 countries under the protocol) cut back on their GHG emissions (to 5 per cent below 1990 levels by 2012).
For the full article click here.

Manmohan Singh, Indian Prime Minister on CLIMATE CHANGE AND EQUITY

India’s Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh inaugurated the Fortune Global Forum in New Delhi on 29/10/07. He drew analogies between international trade in goods and services and climate change issues.

"What the world needs today is a new concord between private enterprise and public welfare. How do we maintain the required incentive mechanisms that encourage private initiative and enterprise, while at the same time ensure that public welfare is also enhanced? This dilemma poses itself most obviously in the field of health care. The policies we require to incentivise new R&D must be balanced against the need to ensure availability of medicines at affordable prices to the world's people.

There are similar trade-offs we need to reflect on when we consider the problem of climate change, global warming, ecological degradation and environment policies. The developing world will continue to see per capita consumption of CO2 emissions rising in the foreseeable future. This will exert pressure on global resources. How do we balance the aspirations of the world's poor against our shared concern about the sustainability of the growth process?

Let me assure you that we in India are deeply and sincerely committed to the protection of our environment because we all share a single global environment. The Indian approach to climate change and global warming derives from the ancient Hindu saying - vasudhaiva kutumbakam - "the whole universe is one family".

As I had said at the G8 Summit some months ago in Germany, India accepts its global responsibilities. We are willing to accept the obligation that our per capita emissions of CO2 will never exceed the per capita emissions of developed countries. If developed countries succeed in reducing their per capita emissions, this would exert pressure and will be a source of incentive for all of us as well.

Whether it is on trade policy or on climate change, or indeed on any other international obligation, India has always worked with the global community. Moreover, India has never reneged on its international commitments. India has been a reliable partner, a responsible global citizen. India respects the rule of law in international relations. India is, therefore, a predictable partner. This is what makes India an attractive destination for investors like you. "