The EU wants countries meeting at a conference in June under the UN’s Rio+20 mechanism to double their share of renewable energy by 2030 under an international obligation. It also wants countries like India to agree to double its energy efficiency levels under an international understanding.
World leaders are to gather in Rio de Janeiro in June for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, known as Rio+20 in policy circles. A proposal for ‘sustainable development goals’ has been put on the table for the meeting which India has already opposed. But EU’s climate commissioner Connie Hedergaard on Thursday backed the proposal saying it should be one of the deliverables from the meeting. She was speaking to media on a visit to Delhi.
India believes that such a proposal breaches the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and impinges on its right to growth. It also believes this is a backdoor move to impose targets on developing countries that the developed world has failed to do through the UN climate talks.
The move would force India to accelerate the deployment of costly renewable energy-based power plants while opening a captive market for developed countries’ ‘green industry’ to sell technologies that are yet to be indigenized within the country.
For example, solar energy currently costs the government around Rs 12 per unit to produce while coal costs around Rs 3 per unit. While it has started an ambitious solar mission project with a target of adding 20,000 mw of solar power by 2020 that along with plans for wind and other forms of renewable still would not make up 20 per cent of the energy mix by 2030.
Also, under the climate convention, developing countries’ actions towards going green are linked to the rich countries providing funds and technology. By moving the targets under a new regime outside the UN climate talks, the developed world would be able to de-link the two and shy away from its obligations.
Hedergaard’s comments came in contrast to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan’s recent statements insisting on the basic principles of CBDR and equity remaining intact in the Rio+20 dialogue as well.
