The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Thursday said that India is set to reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 20 per cent between 2005 and 2020.
Addressing at the 11th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit here, Dr. Singh said, “We are also taking action on our own in the form of a National Action Plan on Climate Change. A broad objective that we have set is to reduce the emissions intensity of our GDP by 20 per cent between 2005 and 2020.
“We have already launched seven missions in the following areas. These include: energy efficiency, solar energy, sustainable habitat, water, sustaining the Himalayan ecosystem, agriculture and strategic knowledge for climate change. We will shortly launch the last of the eight National Missions under the Plan, which is called Green India, which will result in the regeneration of six million hectares of degraded forest land,” he added.
He also called for coordinated global action to deal with the challenge of climate change.
He made it clear that poverty eradication will have to be linked to the availability of clean renewable and affordable energy.
Asserting that clear commitments from industrial countries are essential to achieve the goal of containing the likely temperature increase to two degrees or less, Dr Singh said, “India alone can not make significant difference to the climate as its emissions account for only four percent of the global total.
The Prime Minister added that efforts by individual countries may not make much difference as the emission of green house gases knows no boundaries.
He said that there is a need to shift the patterns of energy generation and its use. He cautioned if it is not done ecological sustainable development would remain only a pious aspiration.
Talking about the international situation, Dr. Singh said that the Cancun conference in Mexico did produce some modest results and assured that India will continue to play a constructive and responsible role in the ongoing negotiations to find practical, pragmatic but equitable solutions.
He also advocated for transfer of technology to the under-developed countries to address this challenge.
