4/6/15, "‘India won’t bow to pressure on climate’," BangaloreMirror.com
"PM Narendra Modi signalled
on Monday he would not bow to foreign pressure to commit to cuts in
carbon emissions, instead pledging to use more clean energy and
traditional methods to lead the fight against climate change.
India,
the world's No.3 emitter of greenhouse gases, has come under pressure
to tackle its rapidly rising emissions since the US and China committed
last November to start cutting their own emissions after a "peak year".
UN climate talks will be held in Paris later this year to look at ways
to limit a damaging rise in global temperatures. Getting India to agree
to a strategy to lower its own emissions is vital if the talks are to be
judged a success.
"The world guides us on climate change and we
follow them? The world sets the parameters and we follow them? It is not
like that," Modi said at an event in Delhi. "We can lead the world."
The government has said it needs to emit more to industrialise and
lift millions out of poverty. While Modi has in the past highlighted the
dangers posed by climate change, he has also argued that the world must
focus more on clean energy and less on outright emission cuts.
India has set an ambitious target to raise renewable energy generation
but is also expanding the mining of coal, a major contributor to its
growing emissions
.
On Monday, Modi suggested using traditional
methods such as switching off street lights on full-moon nights to save
on energy and cut emissions. Modi also accused the world of double
standards by lecturing India about the environment but refusing to sell
it the fuel needed for nuclear power.
Some countries maintain a ban
on selling uranium to India because Delhi has refused to ratify the
nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Modi will begin a trip to Europe and
Canada this week and is expected to push for more help in expanding
India's civil nuclear industry and easing the uranium ban."
.
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