LONDON, April 10 (Reuters Point Carbon) – India, the world’s third-largest emitter of planet-warming carbon dioxide, will likely this year commission four studies to evaluate when the country could take on legally-binding curbs on its greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Times of India on Wednesday.
The paper claimed the studies will focus on when India’s emissions are likely to peak, how best the nation can cut emissions and the components needed to form a new global climate deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol that will force all countries to cut heat-trapping gases.
“The year when India’s emissions trajectory peaks before it starts to dip is expected to influence the date from when the government will be ready to take on a cap in absolute terms on greenhouse gases under a 2015 agreement,” said the report, which did not source any of the information.
At U.N. climate talks in 2011, India and nearly 200 other nations agreed to work towards a 2015 global climate pact that would bind all emitters and take effect from 2020.
The Durban deal marked a shift in global climate politics, which had previously only imposed binding emission limits in industrialised nations.
India is the world’s third biggest carbon dioxide emitter but has prioritized its economy over climate policies as it has a much lower emissions-per-capita ratio than industrialised nations.
India has long argued that it should be allowed to increase emissions as it has hundreds of millions of people living in poverty.
Working out a formula to share the burden of emission cuts among countries under a 2015 deal, referred to as ‘equity’ among U.N. diplomats, is expected to be one of the thorniest issues to solve.
By Ben Garside - ben.garside@thomsonreuters.com
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