Cement, Energy and Environment

It also said the mitigation actions will not apply to agriculture sector and the emissions from agriculture sector will be excluded from the assessment of emission intensity. "India will endeavour to reduce the emissions intensity of its GOP by 20-25 per cent by 2020 in comparison to the 2005 level through domestic mitigation actions," said a statement from the environment ministry here. "While these actions will be in the nature of its contribution to the global efforts to address climate change...it will be entirely voluntary in nature and will not have a legally binding character," it said. The announcement came a day after the US and European Union (EU} committed to the UN to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The US has pledged to cut emissions 17 per cent on 2005 levels by 2020, although it said the target was dependent on domestic climate change legislation being passed. The EU also said it would cut emissions 20 per cent on 1990 levels by 2020, and promised to raise this to 30 per cent if other large emitters made similarly ambitious commitments. Though agriculture contributes around 14 per cen t of the total GHG emissions, India has kept it out of the purview of the mitigations actions in its blueprint to ensure food security and not compromise with the needs of its teeming population. India also said it intends to implement its mitigation actions in accordance with relevant national legislations and policies. Courtesy: The Statesman, 31st January 2010. Pt. INDIA STRONGLY COUNTERS ANY ATTEMPTS TO IMPOSE CARBON TAX ON INDIAN EXPORTS BY DEVELOPED ECONOMIES The Minister of State for Environment and Forest, Mr. Jairam Ramesh, has done well to counter the threat from the US and Europe to impose a carbon tax on Indian exports by retaliating that New Delhi would take such measures to the dispute settlement system of the WTO. What the hints dropped by Washington and Brussels on the imposition of such a tax reveal is that some of the leading players in the climate debate are bent on pressuring major developing economies such as India, China and Brazil to curb environmental pollution, even if such action affects their economic growth adversely. Clearly, such attempts on the part of the developed world cannot be allowed free play at this juncture for two reasons. The first is the fact that the climate debate is currently on, which would make any measure on the part of some rich countries to put pressure on other economies on the climate issue improper and warranted. Further, a proposed carbon tax must necessarily be based on the volume of carbon emissions by the "errant" economies, including determination of an acceptable emission rate before any penalty-system can be devised. This is precisely what the ongoing climate negotiations are all about. , If a carbon tax is to be devised at all, it should wait for the current confabulations at the multilateral level to lay down acceptable ground rules. New Delhi is itself currently involved in planning an international conference later in the year which, among other things, would aim at working out an equitable system for sharing the limited carbon space flowing from the two-degree Celsius temperature-rise cap under the Copenhagen Accord. If a carbon tax is to be devised at all, it should wait for the current confabulations at the multilateral level to lay down acceptable ground rules, which then can form a scientific basis for the implementation of any such measure. Secondly, given that the Doha Round has yet to be concluded, the carbon tax cannot be justified under present WTO rules. In any case , the declared WTO focus is on the liberalization of trade in environment related goods and services and not on punitive measures affecting the free flow of trade on the ground of "violation" of non-existent environment standards. Mr. Ramesh, therefore, should not have a difficult job on his hands in putting up a strong case at the WTO against any carbon-tax on Indian exports. The point has been repeatedly made that issues such as labour and environment do not fall under the auspices of the WTO but should be dealt with by bodies such as the International Labour Organization and the U.N. Environment Programme. That there is now talk of a carbon-tax being imposed selectively suggests that some developed economies do not have much faith in the multilateral negotiating mechanism on the climate issue and are willing to take unilateral steps to get their way. Courresy: The Hindu Business Line, April2, 2010. PB. -+6