In his first official admission that India is reworking energy efficiency and carbon intensity targets before climate change negotiation in Copenhagen,Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh talks about Indias attempts to appear constructive in the light of China declaring green targets ahead of the summit. He spoke to Neha Sinha. Is the government working on declaring some targets on climate change apart from what we have heard on the National Action Plan on Climate Change? The Prime Minister has said that we shouldnt get isolated,but we should also keep our national interests in mind. The Chinese declaration on carbon intensity is a wake-up call for us. The Ministry of Environment and Forests is talking to the Planning Commission and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency for setting some performance targets. We are looking at energy efficiency,carbon intensity,domestic performance target for sectors like transport and industry. We are working on getting numbers and targets together before December 18. Without taking any emission cuts,we are looking at targets that we can make public. China has declared its targets for carbon intensity bringing down levels of carbon in relation to per unit of GDP by 40 per cent by 2020. Is this is a good model for India to follow? The Chinese have taken a leadership position. At the same time,our emissions are very low when compared to China. Perhaps what China will achieve in 2020 after all the carbon intensity target is what India was emitting in 2005. Expectations from India should be low as our emissions are low. But the carbon intensity model is a good one and we should definitely consider it as an option. After your meeting with Brazil,South Africa,China (BASIC countries),is there a consensus on the stand? What does the negotiating draft say? Yes. The draft of the Copenhagen agreement was prepared in China. I went through the draft and we have agreed on the final draft after some changes. This is what the BASIC countries hope will be the outcome of Copenhagen. The draft contains long term-vision,action on mitigation of climate change and adaptation to climate change. In the draft there is no peaking year for emissions for the developing countries. India has made it clear that it will not take any legally binding emission cuts for climate change. India has rejected the Danish proposal which advocates 2025 as a peaking year for emissions for developing countries after which carbon emissions are expected to decline. The BASIC countries,especially China,have very different emission levels from India. Does it not harm Indias interests to ally with them? This is just the beginning. We dont know if the BASIC countries will stick together. We still dont have a definition of forests in India. How does this affect our proposal for fiscal incentives for planting and preserving forests? We will define forests when we have to cross that bridge. India has put forward the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation proposal to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. If it is approved,foreign money will come in to protect our forests. Then the definition and perception of forests will have to change. India has said that it is willing to open any project which is funded internationally for international scrutiny.
