Will New Delhi cash in on carbon
Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Miliband, yesterday met with India’s environment minister Jairam Ramesh in an attempt to try and persuade him to back the climate change deal and push for ambitious carbon emission reductions being introduced at the global summit in Copenhagen this December.
Britain believes that India could be a major economic beneficiary from the drive to slow down global warning, but currently the country has resisted the pressure from developed countries to cap its carbon emissions due to fears that it would restrict economic growth, saying that reduction targets would deny electricity to poor Indian villagers, and also accuses Western Governments of putting ‘lifestyle emissions’ before ‘survival emissions’.
Mr. Miliband has not criticised India’s refusal to accept reduction targets, but instead is appealing to its “enlightened self interest” and believes that the world needs to encourage India into persuading other developing countries to support a deal at Copenhagen which could see an 80% reduction in carbon emissions and a limit on global warming of 2% by 2050.
Global carbon trading could see India reap the benefits where companies in developed countries buy emission permits from lower-emission countries, thus helping India’s future development not hindering it.
India also has investment in solar power plants, whereby they could generate cash from electricity sales, and consequently be allowed to sell carbon credits – where profits could then be reinvested in further clean energy projects.
The energy secretary is suggesting that Britain could collaborate with India too, on developing new technology for storing solar power, and then offer carbon, capture and storage (CCS) deals to reduce India’s coal-fired power station emissions.
Source;
The Daily Telegraph/ World News (Let’s cash in on carbon, India told)