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India in solar energy push as climate plan launched
2008-06-30
NEW DELHI (AFP) - India on Monday released a national plan to tackle climate change with a focus on renewable energy, but stuck by its refusal to specify targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Under the National Action Plan on Climate Change, the country will gradually move towards renewable sources of energy and focus on solar energy. "We must pioneer a graduated shift from economic activity based on fossil fuels to one based on non-fossil fuels and from reliance on non-renewable... to renewable sources of energy," Premier Manmohan Singh said at the launch. "In this strategy, the sun occupies centre stage, as it should, being literally the original source of all energy," Singh said. The plan calls for "National Missions", or priority, on solar energy, enhanced energy efficiency, conservation of water and sustainable agriculture. The prime minister reiterated the government's position that India's per capita emissions will not exceed those of industrialised nations, as he rejected international calls to make commitments to limit emissions. India, which contributes around four percent of the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, is one of the world's top polluters. Along with China, it is not included for targeted emission cuts under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the only global agreement that sets specific targets for reducing emissions. "I have already declared, as India's prime minister, that despite our developmental imperatives, our per capita GHG emissions will not exceed the per capita GHG emissions of the developed industrialised countries," Singh said. India and China say they cannot yet make commitments to cut their emissions because it will hamper their rapid economic growth. India blames the industrialised nations for global warming and has in the past called for further commitments from them to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Experts say that the poor in developing countries worldwide will be among the hardest hit by climate change. South Asia is forecast to be one of the areas most affected by global warming, with the Ganges river expected to lose two-thirds of its July to September flow, causing water shortages for more than 500 million people. Singh has previously called for "climate justice" to combat climate change, urging rich countries to ensure transfer of environment-friendly technologies to developing nations.
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