India: No to peaking year

India has set up clear limits to the kind of climate commitments it is ready make in Copenhagen, says Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh. India says no to a peaking year of emissions and rejects international scrutiny of domestic measures to cut greenhouse gases. 12/12/2009 - India is willing to curb its growth in carbon emissions, but stands firm on its rejection of a "peaking" year. Nor will India accept international scrutiny of voluntary domestic measures to tackle climate change, says Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh to The Times of India.

Demands for a peaking year and for international scrutiny of all mitigation actions in developing countries are hot issues at the negotiating table in Copenhagen. Mainly because developed countries want to be sure that the larger developing countries also do their part to combat global warming.

Ramesh says India has come to Copenhagen "to play a constructive, facilitative, leadership role to ensure an effective and equitable agreement... But at the same time we will not agree to a concept of a peaking year for India because we have a huge backlog of development particularly in expanding rural electricity supply."

India has announced a voluntary target of reducing carbon intensity by 20 to 25 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. It is also planning to implement MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification) on emissions, checked by parliament, civil society and media, Ramesh says.

However, only action supported by international finance can be subject to MRV. Unsupported action is exclusively India's business, says Ramesh.

Having completed a first day of concentrated talks with his foreign counterparts in Copenhagen the minister says: "In all these discussions I have had...the basic objective was to highlight not only what India has done in recent weeks pro-actively, voluntarily, but also to underscore the basic positions India will not compromise on even as it engages in constructive negotiations."

The minister adds that although China and India are coordinating negotiations closely, number one and five in the world in terms on emissions "are not in the same boat".

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