India says UN climate targets flawed

Nov 28, 2007, 12:48 GMT

New Delhi - A United Nations report recommending 20 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by developing countries like India by 2050 was unfair, a top Indian official was quoted as saying by news reports Wednesday.

'The recommendations of the (UN Development Programme) report that industrialized world should reduce total emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 and the developing world by 20 per cent by then are not fair,' Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of India's Planning Commission, was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times newspaper.

The recommendations were part of the Human Development Report 2007 released by the UNDP Tuesday.

Developed countries have significantly contributed to emission of greenhouse gases, and even after they made 80 per cent cuts their output would still be higher than the developing countries, Ahluwalia said.

'If we consider per capita emissions, countries like India will have to bear bigger burden as per UNDP recommendation. I would not call it fair,' Ahluwalia said.

The report argues that while the world's richest countries had a historic responsibility to take the lead in balancing the carbon budget by cutting emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050, developing Asian countries - especially fast industrializing ones like India and China - should also play their part with total emission cuts of at least 20 per cent by 2050.

Referring to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement at the June G8 Summit in Germany that India was ready to cap its emissions level if developed countries agree to cut emissions, Ahluwalia said: 'In fact these are the concessions we are giving to tell the world that we are a responsible country and are keen to contribute to combat global warming.'

The issue of emission cuts by developing countries is expected to come up at the UN-sponsored climate conference at Bali in Indonesia where representatives of the world's governments are scheduled to meet from December 3-14 to set fresh emission cut targets as the Kyoto Protocol currently governing greenhouse gas emissions expires in 2012.