China's emission cut puts India in a fix

New Delhi: Less than two weeks to Copenhagen and India is diplomatically doing all it can to ensure it has a strong negotiating position.

Remember India and China have been talking about presenting a joint front at Copenhagen despite their emission differences ironically this comes at a time when China has announced a cut in Co2 emission intensity. China has decided to cut its intensity of Co2 emission per unit of GDP by almost 45 per cent by 2020.

An announcement that may have left India in the cold as both countries have been working on a joint negotiating front at Copenhagen and have so far resisted pressure from the developed world to accept legally binding emission cuts.

But just before travelling to China, the environment minister said this announcement would not change the Sino-Indo climate equation.

"I am travelling there to ensure we have common ground. We know China has announced energy efficiency cuts per unit of GDP, so has Brazil and South Africa as well. We have announced our national action plan etc. so we will not be pressured to change our stance in any way," said Jairam Ramesh, Environment Minister.

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Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao would attend next month's Copenhagen summit to show his country's commitment to the climate cause.

"China thinks that according to the requirements of the Bali Action Plan, all developed countries should bear comparable and quantised emission targets. Related parties should make their best efforts to push the Copenhagen conference towards a fruitful result," said Qin Gang, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman.

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China's announcement though doesn't mean it will cut carbon emissions but only reduce its energy use.

And along with Brazil, South Africa and India, it will continue to push for quantifiable cuts from rich countries, something India has been saying for the last few months as well.