India re-iterated it’s intention of not signing any binding agreement to cut greenhouse gasses as proposed in the U.N. climate treaty. India and China, two of the largest emitters of greenhouse gas said the effort would stifle their economic prosperity. They would only agree that they will be more receptive to the U.N. goals if the majority cost of the scheme be shouldered by rich countries, like the U.S. As reported:
In an interview on the CNN-IBN news channel, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said the draft proposal “clearly is unacceptable to us”.
India has said any cap on emissions growth would hamper its rapid economic expansion, which relies on heavily polluting fuels like coal.
India has yet to announce any figures for limiting its carbon output ahead of Copenhagen, but insists it will never accept legally binding emissions targets.
Ramesh said Chinese climate change envoy Xie Zhenhua would soon hand over a more acceptable negotiating draft to Denmark, adding that India stood firm with China, South Africa and Brazil “as far as negotiations are concerned”.
Climate envoys from the four developing countries met in Beijing over the weekend, reiterating their position that developed countries must shoulder most carbon emissions cuts.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said last week that India would “sign on to an ambitious global target for emissions reductions” if rich countries paid more to fund mitigation efforts in the poorer world.
Hopefully, they will continue to reject ad infinitum.
